Pressure on clergy to deliver additional online services against a backdrop of diminishing financial and human resources, has contributed to an unprecedented increase in clergy referrals for psychological care, a psychiatrist said this week.<\/p>\n
St Luke\u2019s Healthcare for the Clergy, which provides access to advice and clinical care for clergy and their families, provided 146 psychological appointments in the first ten weeks of 2021 \u2014 up from 43 in the first 12 weeks of 2020.<\/p>\n
Dr Gary Bell, a psychiatrist who serves as both a trustee of St Luke\u2019s and a consultant, expects consultations to double this year. \u201cThis is the highest level of demand for help from clergy that I have experienced over the ten years I have been associated with St Luke\u2019s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The increase had highlighted \u201cthe many and varied ways in which the pandemic has adversely affected the life of the Church. Clergy are now under immense pressure to deliver more than ever before, their traditional ministerial roles being added to by the demand for an ongoing online presence, with correspondingly diminishing financial and human resources. It is hardly surprising that rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout have skyrocketed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pandemic pressure on clergy has tripled psychiatric referrals, says St Luke\u2019s psychiatrist https:\/\/t.co\/KUSeZCpUvQ<\/a><\/p>\n — Church Times (@ChurchTimes) May 14, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n