Youth – Talking About Mental Health and Faith

Fri 5 PM | Youth

David Hosey

Good news: there is increasing openness to talking honestly about mental health struggles, especially among younger generations. Bad news: faith communities sometimes lag behind in this openness. We’ll have a time for sharing and honest conversation about mental health, mental illness, and spirituality with David Finnegan-Hosey. David is a college chaplain and author of Christ on the Psych Ward, a book that emerged out of his own struggles with mental health, faith, and identity.

David Finnegan-Hosey

David Finnegan-Hosey is a chaplain and campus minister. He currently serves as chaplain-in-residence at Georgetown University, having previously worked with campus ministries at American University and the University of Hawaii. He holds an M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary and a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He is certified by Mental Health First Aid USA to provide initial help to people experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance use disorders. In 2011, David was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. You can learn about his book, Christ on the Psych Ward, at christonthepsychward.com, and read more of his writing on his blog, Foolish Hosey. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife Leigh and their dog Penny Lane.
www.christonthepsychward.com

Sessions:
49 Christ on the Psych Ward
50 Crazy Creative

Taleese Morrill

Youth Coordinator
Taleese Morrill is the Youth Ministry Coordinator at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheville. She moved to the mountains with her husband seven years ago where they were inspired by the passion and activism of the faith community around them. She is passionate about doing away with the purity-culture shame that encompassed her youth and focusing on constant transparency and openness in her work with teenagers.

Sessions:
420 Youth Led Open Forum (Youth Tent)
425 S’mores and Celebration (Youth Tent)
426 Affirmations and Farewells (Youth Tent)
427 Opening Session (Youth Tent)

Rachael Keefe

Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the author of The Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention (Chalice Press, 2018), and pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, MN. She’s a favored conference presenter on topics related to and mental health, particularly suicide and congregations. Previously, she served as clinical chaplain at a state psychiatric hospital where she worked with patients, staff, clergy, and churches to increase understanding and welcome of persons living with symptoms of mental illness. She also served on a State Suicide Prevention Council. Since her ordination in 1992, Keefe has served in many different ministry settings. She has graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School (formerly Andover Newton Theological School). She is a painter and a poet, and her other published works are three in a series of theological poetry, which you can find out more on by visiting Beachtheology.com

Sessions:
78 The Lifesaving Church

Session #428