“We saw that there was a notable difference in the self-reported knowledge that folks had related to mental illness, and that there was also a change in their likelihood to refer others to mental health services,” said Jordan about the results of the program.
Data in hand, Jordan officially founded CMHI in 2022, bringing along the mental health first aid training as a core program. CMHI now offers the trainings monthly and hosts an annual mental health symposium and seminars that educate Christians on topics such as bipolar disorder or minority maternal mental health.
Bernita Mapp, a longtime Philadelphia resident and a Christian, has been grieving the deaths of her mom, two sisters and her son over the past five years. After first contacting CMHI two years ago, she attended one of its mental health first aid trainings in January.
Days after, she received a call from a college acquaintance whose young son had been researching suicide online. Mapp’s training kicked in and she had a compassionate but frank conversation with the mother about suicide risk and next steps. Her involvement with CMHI, meanwhile, has also inspired her to join a grief support group.
“I am so excited and elated that God gave her this vision, and I really see that not only is it relevant and practical, but I believe that it’s definitely a movement that will be very instrumental,” Mapp said of Jordan. “It has really helped me heal and become whole again.”
Jordan, who has extended CMHI’s work to churches in the Caribbean and West Africa thanks to video links, juggles her roles as a nonprofit founder, psychiatrist and faculty member (at Rowan University). She also finds time to mentor her volunteers and interns, guiding them through challenges in the medical field.
“I didn’t come from a background where I was super exposed to people who look like me in medicine,” said Jada Jordan (no relation), a former CMHI intern and aspiring medical student. “Dr. Jordan has created a network where people can come and fellowship and really connect.”
Jordan said her attention to young people contributes to her goal of helping increase access to mental health services overall. But she is intent too on training the next generation of believing professionals who recognize how faith interacts with mental health. That’s crucial, Jordan said, not for the sake of the faith, but for those many she’s encountered, she said, “who say they want a provider of faith.”
Caroline Ezekwesili, a CMHI intern, said the first aid training helps attendees overcome the bystander effect, in which people fail to intervene in a crisis because they think someone else will.
Making this training accessible to faith communities is crucial, Ezekwesili said, because if someone is struggling with their mental health, “they’re likely to go to someone in their church.”
This article originally appeared here.
