Mental Health: Understanding the Why
By Kayla Franks
Most people enter the mental health field because they want to help people, or because they are great listeners. I’m not particularly gifted in either of those areas, but God did fashion my brain with a burning desire to understand why we do the things we do.
Growing up, I had relatives who suffered from anxiety and depression. I was aware that this was something devastatingly difficult to deal with, but nothing I had ever felt. I’ve since experienced my own feelings of anxiety, depression and grief and feel even more invigorated to help people find deep healing.
Over the past several years, there has been a rise in people experiencing mental health issues, and most have either experienced this suffering themselves or are close to someone suffering from mental illness. It can be complicated to understand, difficult to talk about and challenging to support someone going through mental illness. Even if you haven’t experienced trauma or mental illness, counseling can be helpful and sometimes necessary in coping with the challenges of life. Life is hard, and relationships can be incredibly difficult to navigate. I believe that God has provided a way to assist us in healing emotionally, mentally and relationally through counseling. The following are common questions I hear often:
Is mental illness a result of sin?
No, we live in a fallen world where we are destined for punishment and suffering, but God redeemed us through His son. The world is full of brokenness and heartache, but it isn’t the result of sin. It is the result of living in a fallen world.
Can Jesus heal my mental illness?
Yes, of course, but sometimes He does not heal these hardships, and sometimes He chooses to use means like counseling or other mental health treatments to do this.
What is counseling, and how does it help?
Counseling/therapy is meeting with a trained therapist to find healing or relief emotionally, mentally or relationally. The therapist uses therapy modalities to conceptualize and treat issues presented.
When should I go to counseling?
Typically, it is helpful if experiencing distress or trouble functioning in your day-to-day life. I’ve gone before just to understand myself better. I also think it is helpful if experiencing family/relational discord.
How does my spiritual life and mental health intersect?
People tend to think that counseling and their spiritual life are opposing, but it can actually work beautifully in conjunction with one another. When we understand ourselves and/or find mental healing, we worship better, we love better and we see God’s grace more clearly.
Counseling can give you emotional, mental and relational healing, but the ultimate healing is only through Christ through His death on the cross and resurrection. He defeated death and restored our relationship with Him and each other.
Author Bio
Kayla is the wife of Council Road’s Groups Pastor, Landry Franks, and mother to Asher and Dru. She works as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oklahoma City providing trauma and crisis services for children, adolescents and families. She enjoys time with her family, holidays, meaningful conversation, cold weather and a good board game.