A gap in training, not a gap in caring
Concerned Christians for Mental Health is a group of local pastors, ministry leaders, and church members trying to close it in our own community.
Why we started this
We kept running into the same problem. People in our congregations were struggling, and we were not equipped to help them.
Not for lack of love. For lack of training. Most of us were never taught what depression looks like from the outside, what to do when someone mentions they have thought about ending their life, or how to make a referral that does not land like a brush-off. So we did what untrained people do. We prayed, we said something kind, and we hoped it was enough.
Sometimes it was. Often it was not, and we only found that out later.
Concerned Christians for Mental Health exists to bring qualified, licensed teaching into local churches, so that when someone in the pew is in trouble, the person sitting next to them knows what to do.
We would rather be the church people tell than the church people avoid.
That takes more than good intentions. It takes knowing the words, the warning signs, and where to send someone when it is past what a friend can carry.
Who we are
Pastors, ministry leaders, and church members from across Davie County and the surrounding area, working together on this rather than each church figuring it out alone.
Our partner for this event
Dwell Christian Therapy & Training is a North Carolina practice with offices in Greensboro and Cary. It was founded by two clinicians, Kalie Moore and Lauren Bowman, after years in private practice and a shared conviction that the church and the mental health field were solving the same problems without talking to each other.
What they do
Two things, side by side. Their clinical team provides trauma-informed therapy across a wide range of specialties. Their teaching team trains churches to recognize mental health needs and respond to them well.
- Trauma therapy and EMDR
- OCD and anxiety treatment
- DBT
- Substance use
- Severe mental illness
- Marriage, family, and child therapy
- Perinatal and postpartum mental health
Why we chose them
Their teaching is clinically sound and unembarrassed about faith. They do not ask churches to check their theology at the door, and they do not ask clinicians to pretend the spiritual dimension is not there.
They also teach this particular course regularly, to churches across the state. We are not their first audience, and that matters. The material has been tested on rooms like ours.
Dwell publishes its statement of faith and its full course outline at dwellministry.org.
The first one is November 5
A free evening course at Triple J Manor House in Mocksville, taught by Dwell’s licensed clinicians. Two hundred seats, open to anyone.
If you or someone you know needs help right now
Call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day. In an emergency, call 911.
Concerned Christians for Mental Health is not a treatment or crisis service.
Concerned Christians for Mental Health is an educational effort. We do not provide diagnosis, treatment, therapy, or crisis intervention, and attending our events does not create a clinical relationship with Dwell Christian Therapy & Training, its clinicians, or Concerned Christians for Mental Health. If you need care, please contact a licensed provider.