Of course you can.
And anyone [yes, that includes your pastor and your parents, the congregation and your friends] that has told you otherwise has likely been misguided by the same ‘theology’ that teaches that mental illness is a sin and something must be off in your faith if you are experiencing any challenges to your mental stability
There’s so much to unpack just right there, but we’ll get to that later.
The reality is, therapy is one of your best assets in growing in your spiritual walk.
Therapy can help you build trust because, let’s be real, one of the reasons we have dysfunctional relationships with God is because we have control issues (how can you trust God if you are trying to control everything yourself?).
Because we have dysfunctional relationships with our earthly father, we have difficulty trusting a Heavenly Father or a God that we can’t even see.
Because we doubt ourselves, we struggle to have faith.
Because of anxiety, we can’t fathom tolerating uncertainty.
Because with depression it’s almost impossible to feel hope (hopelessness is one of the primary symptoms of depression) so how can we find hope in God?
Because of our past traumas we’ve developed unhealthy behavioral patterns that tend to pull us further away from health behavioral patterns that align with our spiritual practices and beliefs.
Because of the traumas we may have even experienced in church, we don’t believe we are able to build and be connected with community.
Because we have been so hurt by people, it is impossible for us to accept true forgiveness from God and as such we find it that much more difficult to truly forgive in our relationships
This is just to name a few.
We severely underestimate the impact that our mental health has on our ability to even enjoy our relationship with God and therapy can help you resolve these issues so you can learn how to have a relationship with God and a deeper understanding of what it means for you to be a spiritual person.
Think about it, if you couldn’t trust your biological Father, the one who was supposed to take care of you, provide for you, love you unconditionally, it’s quite difficult to believe that someone you can’t even see is going to do that for you.
But the more you work through your trust issues [in therapy], the more you’re able to trust in God.
A lot of trusting God is having the ability to listen to your inner wisdom and not doubt. Some may call it the Spirit, some may call it intuition. But either way, if you are always doubting yourself, then it’s practically impossible to follow those internal prompts that might actually be God speaking to you.
Faith is Letting Go of Control.
So if you’re a perfectionist and you are always trying to control every single aspect of your life, it is going to be difficult to have faith.
And without faith it is impossible to please God.
Therapy can help you recover from perfectionism and learn to embrace your weaknesses so that God can strengthen you.
Therapy that incorporates your faith can really support you in deepening your spiritual walk. God wants you to experience a deeper relationship with Him so whatever is getting in the way of deepening that bond, He wants you to take the necessary steps to address it.
But you have to be willing to surrender. And surrendering can be scary when you’ve been in a church or previous relationships that have been abusive. Therapy can help you process your traumas so that surrender becomes less like a burden or more like a natural state of being.
Praying is an amazing way of communicating and building an intimate relationship with God, but what happens when you are in a wilderness and you feel like God isn’t hearing you. It’s possible that hopelessness starts to abound. And I stated earlier, hopelessness is one of the key symptoms of depression.
Therapy can help treat the depression so that you can stay resolved in your desire to seek God, even during challenging seasons.
Just pray about it.
And other unhelpful statements like…
Just get over it
Just think happy/positive thoughts
Just move on
Just think about something else
Just let it go
Just be happy
Notice a pattern here?
If we could JUST do something, then we likely would JUST do it and wouldn’t be talking about the pain that it is causing in the moment.
Praying about your circumstances of course Is necessary
But prayer isn’t just sending requests up, it is also listening to God.
What if your anxiety is so high that it is impossible to hear God because your thoughts are constantly racing? You’ve probably tried to “just stop thinking about it” and how well did that work? Probably not very. So your praying may not be as helpful because your mental health challenges are a barrier to you actually have a conversation with God.
Think about this in your everyday relationships:
Imagine having a conversation with your significant other. And you were just talking, pouring your heart out, and they said nothing the entire time. Or they responded but because you were continuing to talk over them, you couldn’t actually hear their response.
How would that make you feel?
How would that make your significant other feel?
Well imagine how God feels (yes God has feelings too, where do you think you got yours from?)
We have to address the barriers that keep you from an intimate relationship with God (who desires an intimate relationship with you) and going to therapy to work through your mental illness is one of those ways to overcome and address the barriers.
And while we’re on the topic:
Mental illness is not a sin.
Let me repeat that one more time…
MENTAL ILLNESS IS NOT A SIN.
It’s not a result of sin.
It’s not because you are being punished.
It’s not because you don’t have enough faith.
It’s not because God doesn’t love you.
It’s not even always an evil spirit (sometimes it can be, but that’s not always the case. Faith-based therapy can help sort that out too.)
But the harm that has been caused by the ignorance in the Church and how they have historically treated mental illness is sad at best.
And this myth has to be addressed before we can really reconcile mental health and faith.
Mental illness is like any other disease. There are a variety of different causes and factors that contribute to it. Some are environmental, some are biological, some are in response to trauma, the list goes on and on.
But we have to stop making mental illness, particularly in the church, about sin.
If you’ve internalized this belief or maybe you’re reading this and you’re just now realizing that you’ve been believing this, let me be the first to say:
You are free to let that go.
Look at Job, look at Solomon, look at David.
Giants in the Bible, all had mental health issues, if we’re being real about it.
And they are still considered men of faith.
Even Noah had a drinking problem.
This line of thinking that mental illness is a sin is toxic and we have to start openly talking about how that has hurt you so that we can start talking about how you can be healed.
God is able to do great, wonderful, miraculous things, He can heal in an instant, but sometimes there is a process that you have to go through, that He wants you to go through, before that healing occurs.
Could it be that therapy is that process?
Could it be that there is something God wants you to learn on your way to healing that needs to be done with a qualified mental health professional?
So many people have been hurt by the church.
They’ve experienced traumas in church. And because the church is supposed to be the place that you turn to when you’re hurting, it can be difficult to seek out other sources of help when you can’t trust the one you were supposed to.
Is it blasphemy to talk about religious trauma? Is it blasphemy to be frustrated about unanswered prayers? Is it a sin to express anger at God?
No. No. And No.
We can not heal what we do not express.
Can you IMAGINE just keeping a cancer diagnosis to yourself? It literally eats away your healthy cells until you die. Mental illness can do the same thing. Trauma tears away at the core of who you are until you are not even able to recognize yourself.
Expressing your honest and true feelings about God, lamenting if you will, is also an indicator of building a great relationship.
God can handle your big feelings.
Including anger.
But again, depending on how your emotions were handled when you were growing up, you may not believe that God will respond to your emotions in a healthy way. If you’ve never had anyone else respond to your emotions in a healthy way, why would you believe that God will?
Therapy is a place where you can get healthy responses to your big feelings AND learn how to express your big feelings so that you can get the support you need. Because isn’t that what expressing big feelings is all about?
So maybe you’ve read all of this and you’re wondering if therapy would be a good fit for you.
Well here are a few things to support you in making that decision.
- Talk to God. But make sure you also take space and time to listen to what God says. Remember what we said earlier, one way conversations with God will not help you get the guidance you desire.
- Talk to people that you trust. People who have gone through their own spiritual and mental health journeys. But this requires you to be vulnerable, so make sure you are prepared to take off your armor to receive that feedback.
- Talk to a therapist that incorporates faith into their work. Test out what they are saying with what you believe. Explore the contradictions. Process the conflicts. Be open to shifting your perspective if you follow steps 1 and 2 as well.
I firmly believe that there is a power in using therapy as a part of your process to clear out your mental clutter, trauma, and conflict that will allow you to developing a deeper relationship with God and a deeper understanding of how to walk out a life of faith. If you’re ready to start healing from past traumas so that you can experience the fullness of what God is calling you to, I encourage you to start the journey today.
The Worth, Wisdom and Wellness Center provides Trauma & EMDR therapy, Therapy for Perfectionism and Low Self-esteem, Therapy for Anxiety and Depression, and Faith-Based Therapy to Black women and Women of Color.
If you are located in the state of Georgia* and interested in starting your healing journey, you can follow any of the steps below.
- Contact us to schedule your first appointment and learn more about our services.
- Review our About Us page to learn more about our trauma trained providers.
- Review our FAQs page to learn more about therapy at our center.
We look forward to being a part of your healing journey.
*Dr. Marcuetta Sims also sees clients in other states. Check her bio to learn more.
Follow Dr. Sims on IG @drmarcuettasims
Follow the Worth, Wisdom, and Wellness Center on IG @worthwisdomwellness