Proposal for A Local Church Ministry to Mentally Ill Addicts

144 Pages·2016·0.77 MB·English

by  Smith, Laverne Young

Liberty University School of Divinity

Proposal for a Local Church Ministry to Mentally-Ill Addicts

A Thesis Project Submitted to
The faculty of Liberty University School of Divinity in Candidacy
for the Degree of Doctor of Ministry

By
Terry Lynn Jacobs

Lynchburg, Virginia
June 2015
Copyright © 2015 by Terry Lynn Jacobs
All Rights Reserved
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Liberty University School of Divinity

Thesis Project Approval Sheet

__________________________________
Mentor: Dr. Charles N. Davidson
Director, Doctor of Ministry Program

__________________________________
Reader: Dr. David W. Hirschman
Associate Professor of Religion

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DMIN THESIS PROJECT ABSTRACT

PROPOSAL FOR A LOCAL CHURCH MINISTRY TO MENTALLY ILL ADDICTS

Terry Jacobs

Liberty University School of Divinity 2015

Mentor: Dr. Charles N. Davidson

There is a significant sub-culture of mental health patients who are addicted to
prescription drugs, whose needs are not being met by the mental health rehabilitation system.
These individuals are incapable of functioning or working normally and exist solely on welfare
and community charities. This thesis will investigate this nationwide problem to determine
existing ministry approaches, to create a reproducible ministry strategy for reaching this segment
of our society with the gospel, by implementing Christian growth, and providing God’s hope for
recovery from addiction. The writer has experience with such a ministry, including a church
ministry home in the community, and will survey former addicts to determine effective practices
to employ. The paper will provide the Biblical basis for this ministry, discuss practical
considerations for establishing this outreach, and provide suggestions for meeting the practical
and spiritual needs of this subculture.

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CONTENTS

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Illustrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Chapter One: Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

The Purpose of Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Statement of the Problem and Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Statement of the Theoretical Basis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Redemption Approach versus Psychotherapy Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Statement of Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Redemption versus Psychotherapy Treatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Out-patient Therapy Versus In-patient Rehabilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Mental Illness and the Church’s Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Ministry House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Bible Verses on Mental Illness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Chapter 2: Theology versus Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Views of Integration between Psychology and Theology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

A Level Explanation View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
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The Integration View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

The Christian Psychology View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

The Transformational Psychology View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

A Biblical Counseling View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Secular Psychology and Psychotherapies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

The Strictly Redemptive Viewpoint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 3: Residential Treatment Centers versus Outpatient Therapy Programs. . . 59

Outpatient or Non-residential Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

The Steps to Freedom in Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Group Therapy (NA, AA, Celebrate Recovery). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Chapter 4: The Church’s Response to Those with Mental Illness and Addiction . . . . 79

What Are Church’s Doing about Mental Illness in Their Congregations? . . . . . . . . 84

Does Dual Diagnosis Demand Different Treatments? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

The Riverhill Ministry House Approach to Working with Dual Diagnosis . . . . . . . 89

Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

God’s Word. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Work, School, or Volunteer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Reentry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

(1) Teen Challenge, (2) New Life for Girls, and (3) Clarion Psychiatric Facility. . . 93

Chapter 5: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Ministry House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The Finances of the Ministry House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

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Responses to the Survey Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Future Challenges for the Ministry House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Appendix A: Ministry House Rules and Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Appendix B: Consent Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Appendix C: Survey Questions for Research Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Institutional Review Board Approval. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

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Tables

2.1 Various Mental Diagnoses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

2.2 Eight Dimensions of Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.3 Supported Theological Views of Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.1 Unhealthy Defense Mechanisms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3.2 Different Outcome Based Substance Abuse Therapy Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3.3 Agenda for Narcotics Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

3.4 Forces behind the Growth of Behavioral Health Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

3.5 Steps to Good Mental Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3.6 Why Is Mental Health Needful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

4.1 Mental Illness Awareness in the Church. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4.2 Key Elements of an Addiction Recovery Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

5.1 Four Assumptions in the Aftermath of Mass Shootings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

5.2 Suggestions from the Survey Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

5.3 Signs of Depression. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

5.4 Points to Remember for Starting a Mental Health Ministry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

5.5 Attitudes that Must Be Surrendered to God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

5.6 The Hope Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

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Illustrations

Figures

1. Monthly Spending Percentages 103

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Abbreviations

B4Stage4 Before-Stage-Four

HMICA Homeless, Mentally Ill, Chemical Abusers

MHMR Mental Health Mental Retardation

MICA Mental Illness and Chemical Abusers

NAMI National Association of Mental Illness

DSM V Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fifth Edition

GAD Generalized Anxiety Disorder

OCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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