Community and Religious Consultation

Consultations are available to area religious leaders to increase their understanding of mental health issues and the importance of appropriate referrals for themselves and their faith groups. These consultations may involve discussions on recognizing signs of mental health problems, understanding the role of counseling in mental health treatment, and learning how to refer individuals to appropriate mental health professionals or services, all with particular sensitivity to the faith group context. These consultations may also be centered on a particular situation the faith group leader is facing either in general in their faith group (such as grief or anxiety based on the influence of societal issues) or because of particular individual(s) and concern around them. By collaborating with mental health professionals, religious leaders can better support the mental and emotional well-being of themselves, their congregations, and their communities.

When appropriate and desired, faith group leaders can obtain appropriate referrals for individuals seeking mental health support within their religious or spiritual context. These referrals will not always be for treatment at Seeking Shalom, but when it is those who are referred by the faith group leader would not pay the full cash rate for their treatment.

Mental Health Professional Consultations

Consultations allow mental health professionals to seek guidance and expertise regarding faith (including spirituality and religion) and faith issues within counseling. This may include discussions on how to integrate faith into therapy effectively, address spiritual concerns raised by clients, or navigate ethical dilemmas related to faith in counseling practice. Additionally, professionals can receive supervision to enhance their skills and competencies in working with clients dealing with spiritual or religious matters. Supervision and consultation sessions provide a space for reflection, feedback, and skill development under the guidance of experienced supervisors.

Beyond consultation around the intersectionality of spirituality and mental health, supervisors at Seeking Shalom are available to provide consultation to mental health professionals on a range of topics. We have significant experience in numerous clinical areas as well as in ethics. We have also worked with emerging clinicians who are being supervised by someone not of their profession who desire a space to be able to explore what it means to be developing as a marriage and family therapist or a mental health counselor – such a space does not substitute for their required supervision in their supervised experience context but supplements it on say a monthly basis. All of these forms of consultation can be of limited duration around a particular situation or ongoing. Our president is also available for business consultation.

Community and Religious Training

Working with community and/or faith group leaders, clinicians from Seeking Shalom may design and conduct trainings for groups in the community. These trainings may be on particular mental health topics or on the relationship of faith within mental health. Members of our staff have provided trainings ranging from under an hour to a full week program.

Mental Health Professional Training

Members of our senior staff are available to present continuing education activities. These could be for a small group of people or as conference keynotes. In the past, such presentations have often been able to be qualified for continuing education credit in a range of professions. Presentations exist both in the area of the intersection of faith and therapy, as well as in more general topics. Additional custom topics could also be arranged.

Professional panels are another training venue that our senior staff have served on and would entertain future such opportunities. We have also been guest lecturers at different graduate schools.

The central aspect of our training of mental health professionals is with emerging clinicians. Seeking Shalom is an intentional group teaching practice. For the most part, we do not intend to develop a staff clinician model but rather intentionally work with emerging clinicians, both as interns and residents. Interns usually begin with us during the practicum phase of their graduate training and progress through the internship program of their graduate program. We have cooperated with a number of universities over the years. Residents work as employees of Seeking Shalom under a limited permit from New York State. For residents, we understand this to be a developmental and learning period that generally lasts between one and a half and four years before they move on to the next stage of their careers. Interns and residents are both provided with careful individual supervision as well as learning opportunities among the whole team. Those interested in pursuing the opportunity of an internship or residency should submit a cover letter and resume, and in the case of interns, a detail of the expectations of their school. We have an open consideration of those whose desires and outlook match the ethos of the practice and the opportunity we can provide.

Through all of these forms of training, we hope to enhance excellence, expand capacity, and improve the ability to address faith-mental health issues of mental healthcare. We hope to be able to serve you in advancing these goals.