As ministry leaders, it is our job to offer support and create community which can rally around those who are making a journey towards healing from abuse. With numerous free mental health help available for abuse and trauma, we complied numerous sources which restore a survivors voice, offer insight, and provide directional guidance both for the survivor and for your ministry to use as a way to learn how to best offer care and support to those who need it. .
As ministry leaders, it is our job to offer support and create community which can rally around those who are making a journey towards healing from abuse.
Within this article you will find mental health support in several categories:
Understanding Trauma & Abuse
Faith-Based Mental Health Help
Resources For Men
Resources for Parents
Support For Families
How To Support A Loved One
Resources For Ministry Leaders
Resources For Teachers
Resources For Teenagers Who Struggle
Building A Mental Health Safety Plan
Understanding Trauma & Abuse
Why Are Shame And Trauma Connected?
Kati Morton
Defining shame and trauma, how they affect us, and how to break the cycle. She discusses ways to move through the feeling of shame and heal. Note: Some ideas are more progressive than others. Each viewer needs to consider the path they do chose and get wisdom for their own journey and if these steps are right for them.
The Impact of Trauma
TED
Offers Insight into the effects of trauma and how early adversity affects a life. Advocates for communities to rally for healing.
What Is Emotional Abuse?
Educational insight on the effects of psychologically aggressive behaviors, complete with statistics.
5 Must Know Signs Of Emotional Abuse
Kati Morton
Kati discusses ways to identify emotional abuse and what to do next.
Faith-Based Mental Health Help
Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused
A video-based curriculum series from professionals who are equipped to train churches and the communities they represent on how to offer the right type of support and care for those who have faced a variety of forms of abuse.
How Your Church Can Support Sexual Abuse Survivors
Keys for how to create an environment of support for women who are domestic violence victims.
We Too: How the Church Can Respond Redemptively to the Sexual Abuse Crisis
By Mary DeMuth
From her Amazon’s description, “We like to think the church is a haven for the hurting. But what happens when it’s not?” Title is a firsthand account of one woman’s journey to find support within the church—and a call for the church to be there as a place of safety for others like her.
Understanding Sexual Abuse: A Guide for Ministry Leaders and Survivors
by Tim Hein, Debra Hirsch
Provides firsthand insight of someone experiences abuse, how it shapes their views of life and themselves, along with what needs they have. Combined with both theological and psychological insights.
Ministry Safe Prevention & Awareness Training
How to put a system of prevention in place in your community. Includes prevention plans for churches, camps and conference centers, schools, youth sports, foster and adoption, child services, daycares and preschools.
Advocating For Youth
What To Do When A Young Person Talks About Abuse
Provides insight and practical tools for leaders to support students who talk about abuse, along with how to guide them towards healing.
What Should You Do When You Suspect Child Abuse?
Scholastic provides an in-depth analysis of what to do, as a teacher, when you suspect a child you know is being abused.
Supporting Brain Development in Traumatized Children and Youth
Provides education on the impact of trauma and brain development, screening guidelines and treatment options for affected youth.
The Role of Educators in Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse and Neglect
The Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Bureau has provided tip sheets and resource sheets for educators and community leaders. Complete with resources, educational insight, and informed guidance.
Resources For Male Abuse Survivors
Understanding Male Sexual Abuse & Challenges For Healing
APA Division 56 - Trauma Psychology
Provides concise factors which affect male survivors, along with what protective factors exist.
Men Need To Talk About Their Sexual Abuse
Survivor Seth Shelley discusses the value of speaking your story—and finding ways to challenge the narrative of abuse.
Reimagining Masculinity: My Journey
TEDxTalks
One man shares his story of assault as an adult male—and his journey of recovery.
Abuse And Mental Health Resources for Parents
Parents Anonymous
Offers a network of in-person support groups. From website: “Groups offer a caring and supportive environment where parents and caregivers support each other and explore new parenting strategies, address underlying emotional issues, and create long lasting positive changes in their families.”
How To Recognize Abuse
Downloadable PDF answers the question, “How do I recognize abuse?” and “What should I do if I suspect Abuse?”
ChildWelfare.Gov Tip Sheets
How to Develop Supportive Communities
Keeping Your Family Strong
Connecting With Your Teen
Building Resilience in Children and Teens
Preventing Child Sexual Abuse
Parenting After Domestic Violence
Helping Your Child Heal From Trauma
Helping Your Teen Through An Unhealthy Relationship
Article offers guidance for concerned parents to understand what their child is facing, how to discuss difficult subjects and what resources are available.
Parenting Children and Youth Who Have Experienced Abuse or Neglect
Printable PDF guide to understanding preventative measures parents can take to safeguard their families, along with tools and resources for youth who have experienced trauma and need strong family support through their healing journey.
Helping Your Child Heal From Trauma (tip sheet): https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/preventionmonth/resources/tip-sheets/
Parenting a Child Who Has Experienced Trauma (factsheet): https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/ child-trauma/
Healing The Harm Done: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Your Child Overcome the Effects of Sexual Abuse
Guides parents through an understanding of their child’s perspective—along with offering support and care for parents in their own grief or pain.
Mental Health Support For Families
The National Alliance On Mental Illness has a directory of support groups for you and your family.
The Society For Adolescent Heath And Medicine has a comprehensive listing of additional support options.
The Depression And Bipolar Alliance Support Alliance offers connection to local chapters.
Family Caregiver Alliance provides a map of network help in your area.
Learning How To Support A Loved One's Mental Health
College Sexual Assault Prevention: A Parent’s Guide
Offers parents a comprehensive guide along with questions to ask of your child’s campus leadership in order to advocate the safety of your child.
How to Support a Friend or Loved One Who Has Been Sexually Abused
Offers guidance on how to care for survivors, including what to say, how to provide support, and understanding of the issue.
Things Not To Say And How Not To Approach A Sexual Assault Survivor
UW Medicine
A survivor shares reactions she received, how it affected her, and what she needed instead. She offers those of us who seek to provide support to a survivor insight on how to care for those we love.
Why Are Shame And Trauma Connected?
Kati Morton
Defining shame and trauma, how they affect us, and how to break the cycle. She discusses ways to move through the feeling of shame and heal. Note: Some ideas are more progressive than others. Each viewer needs to consider the path they do chose and get wisdom for their own journey and if these steps are right for them.
The Impact of Trauma
TED
Offers Insight into the effects of trauma and how early adversity affects a life. Advocates for communities to rally for healing.
Resources For Teenagers Who Struggle
The Sexual Trauma Workbook for Teen Girls: A Guide to Recovery from Sexual Assault and Abuse
by Raychelle Cassada Lohmann PhD LPC, & Sheela Raja PhD
Provides guidance from survivors, along with short, actionable prompts to build a circle of support, tools, and healing resources.
The PTSD Workbook for Teens: Simple, Effective Skills for Healing Trauma
by Libbi Palmer PsyD
Provides insight combined with short, actionable prompts to build a circle of support, tools, and healing resources.
Beyond PTSD: Helping and Healing Teens Exposed to Trauma
by Ruth Gerson, Patrick Heppell
Collaborative voices join together to address multiple sources of trauma, how it affects teens, and how to offer informed guidance and support—all with student perspectives in mind.
Time To Talk: Talking To Your Parents
Includes reactions to thoughts and feelings you might be having about talking with your parents and how you can build courage in order to find support.
Tips For Talking About Your Mental Health
Includes a letter template to help you get started with beginning an important conversation.
Expressive Writing: Words That Heal
By James W. Pennebaker
Offers insight into the benefits of processing trauma by writing—along with specific exercises
and prompts on how to find resolution.
Building A Mental Health Safety Plan
If you are taking a stand to heal from abuse, you know mental health often fights back. Taking action each time is a battle which is not easy. Yet, we hope that having a pathway can help you continue to seek wholeness.
Please note: Even with the best of plans, there are times in which a crisis is stronger than our plan. In those moments, seek immediate, professional help. The following ideas on how to fight back are not intended to take the place of professional help.
One such resource which has a fantastic list of tools and resources for creating a safety plan is Challenge The Storm. You can check out their advice here: http://challengethestorm.org/safety-plans-mental-health/
They even have a sample plan that any of us are able to use to help us learn how to build our own plan. You can check that out here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d893dda1257b15f27f8365e/t/5de7ea15c172cb20cebb5049/1575479830114/safety-plan-web.pdf
Building A Safety Plan - Video Discussion
Safety Plan Resources
BeyondBlue App provides tools to build and implement a safety plan.
Suicide Prevention Lifeline – Safety Plan Template.
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Brown_StanleySafetyPlanTemplate.pdf
1 page safety plan print off with space to write in warning signs, coping strategies, and more.
Get Self-Help
Offers a second safety plan print off, with tools and resources from the UK.
Therapist Aid
Offers free worksheets for building a self-harm safety plan, suicide assessment, and warning signs.
Nick’s Experience With Using A Safety Plan
One young man’s story of how he uses a safety plan in times which feel challenging.
We're Changing It
If you are supporting an individual within your. ministry who is facing significant mental health challenges and you are seeking to be a support for them, the We're Changing It mentorship guide is your step-by-step guide to help them know how to process their story.
We believe in your voice of support in their life - and want to walk with you as you guide them.
Check out a sneak peak below:
Or register for a free sneak peek here: