Article by Urban Alliance staff.
At any given time, 1 in 5 people are struggling with a diagnosable mental illness and 100% of people will struggle with their mental, emotional or relational health at some point in their lives.
In honor of World Mental Health Week, Urban Alliance is helping to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize efforts in support of mental health.
Would you know where to turn if you were in need of emotional support? What if you were specifically seeking Christian care? Would you know where to point a friend or family member if they were struggling emotionally?
The Charis website (CharisNetworkCT.org) is a tool, managed by Urban Alliance, that can be used by individuals and organizations to help connect people in need of support to high-quality professional counselors, support groups, and specialized support services offered in Connecticut from a Christian perspective.
The site provides an easy way to browse professional counselor profiles and learn about their qualifications, specialties and what types of insurance they accept, or to find support groups for issues like anger, anxiety, depression, divorce, grief and unemployment. It also lists specialized services for pregnancy and parenting, substance abuse, healing prayer and pastoral care.
Visit, browse and share about the Charis website.
A Charis flyer is also available to help connect to care.
Counselors and care providers can also find resources on the Charis website, including information about the Charis peer consultation group that meets monthly. The purpose of this group is for counselors to provide each other with professional support in their work with clients. The group consists of meetings where members have the opportunity to present cases for discussion and ask questions related to their practice.
Through Charis, Urban Alliance works with churches and organizations to help them communicate about mental health in ways that offer hope and create safe environments where people feel comfortable seeking help. Urban Alliance also equips care providers to respond sensitively and to effectively connect people who are seeking care to appropriate support, so that they can cope well and become emotionally healthy and resilient.
For more information about Charis, contact Angela Colantonio, Urban Alliance’s Director of Implementation, Health & Basic Needs Initiatives, at angela.colantonio@urbanalliance.com or 860.986.7328.
