‘Religion—Wounding or Healing?’

- Churches Together for Healing offers this one day conference for those engaged in, or interested in promoting, the healing ministry, and for other pastoral theologians, as well as those interested in the relationship between spirituality and mental health.

Saturday 9th October 2010    10.30 a.m. to 3.45 p.m.
at
Carrs Lane United Reformed Church Birmingham B4 7SX

Dr Stephen Pattison:
Dealing with our ‘shadow’ sides in the religious quest for health and healing.

Speaker: Stephen Pattison is Professor of Religion, Ethics and Practice and Head of Theology at Birmingham University. He is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in practical theology, ethics, and public service management. He is currently director of the new Doctor of Practical Theology programme at Birmingham (a programme run in collaboration with three other universities); he also sits on the Ethics Committee of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Topic: “In this 1.5 hour interactive workshop session I will initiate an exploration of some of the ambivalences that surround the quest for health and healing. Holism implies the integration of good and evil and allows for the possibility of both in human life. It is therefore to be expected that Christian and other religious quests for health and healing will have to recognise and grapple with their own ‘shadow’ sides. This is part of seeking integration, and so part of the healing mission.”

Revd Chris MacKenna:
Psychiatric Care and Faith

Speaker: Chris MacKenna is an Anglican priest and a Senior Member of the Jungian Analytic Section of the British Association of Psychotherapists. He is an Honorary Member of the Spirituality and Psychiatry Special Interest Group at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He is Clinical Director of the Guild of Health and Director of St Marylebone Healing and Counselling Centre, London.

Topic: There is a delicate relationship between mental illness and religious belief. On the one hand, many people suffering from clinically diagnosable forms of mental illness report that they are sustained by their spiritual and religious beliefs. On the other hand, psychiatrists regularly find themselves trying to help patients who are possessed by apparently psychotic religious delusions. What is the relationship between religion and psychosis? And, how can we affirm a person's faith without reinforcing their delusions?

Conference Fee: £15

Once registered you will be invoiced for the conference fee; once payment is received your place will be secured and joining instructions will follow.

Please click here to register

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