Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 18, 1995                   TAG: 9510180039
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

SEMINARS TO HELP CLERGY ADDRESS COUNSELING CUTBACKS

Clergy thus find themselves counseling members of their flock about stress, depression and loneliness. Such work can be uncharted waters for clergy, who may lack formal training in those areas.

To help local clergy deal with the emotional needs of their church members, the Mental Health Association and David Moore, a licensed professional counselor and a former pastor of Glade Baptist Church in Blacksburg, will conduct a four-week seminar on counseling for clergy, beginning Thursday. Each session will meet from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the association's office in Christiansburg.

Stress, anxiety and depression were cited by 31 percent of households in a recent survey of New River Valley families, done by the New River Planning District Commission in August 1994.

The upcoming holiday season and less daylight during the winter months often mean an increase in depression. Also, federal budget cuts to mental health agencies mean more people may turn to clergy for help.

Thus, there is a need for accessible treatment, mental health workers say.

"What's going to happen is the formal network of care and counseling is going to be inundated. Anyone who's active in a church is likely to turn to their minister," said Amy Forsyth-Stephens, executive director of the Mental Health Association.

Also, in recent years, there has been a lot of advancement in the care and treatment of depression, Forsyth-Stephens said. Increasingly, depression is seen as an illness, not a weakness, and new medicines are being prescribed.

"We felt like it was important to update clergy," she said.

Clergy may bring a wide range of wisdom to counseling, Moore said, gleaned from their everyday work with their congregation members. But the counseling they perform is often done quickly and informally, in hallways after a service or in living rooms. Clergy nevertheless need to know how to spot warning flags of deep or pervasive depression, which can lead to health, relational or professional problems, or even suicide, he said.

"What we are trying to do is get pastors to see the red flags" and refer congregation members for professional help if they need it, Moore said.

The seminar series will include discussion of the symptoms of depression, forms of treatment, suicide and crisis intervention, and challenges in caring for a depressed adult.

For more information, call the Mental Health Association at 382-5629 or (800) 559-2800.