麻豆原创

As the U.S. Army鈥檚 Chief of Chaplains, heads an office that represents 218 faith groups, ranging from the Pentecostal Assemblies of God to Sunni Islam to the Theravada, within six of the world鈥檚 major religions. To ensure that the Army properly serves all of these constituencies, Solhjem鈥檚 office meets periodically with 156 鈥渆ndorsers鈥� 鈥� a kind of national advisory board of leading civilian clergy.

鈥淭hese are people who all believe that they have the right answers,鈥� he says with a chuckle.

So this past January, when Solhjem brought Teachers College鈥檚 , Professor of Psychology & Education, to speak at the United States Pentagon to the endorsers about 鈥渢he science of spirituality,鈥� he was taking something of a calculated risk. How would the group react to Miller's view that 鈥渟pirituality鈥� can be and is practiced by millions of people 鈥� those who do and those who don鈥檛 belong to an organized religion, and those who don鈥檛 believe in a God at all?  

Solhjem, who recently keynoted the second installment of The Spirituality and Mental Health Webinar Series, a collaboration between Miller鈥檚 Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI) at 麻豆原创 and the HHS Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, wasn鈥檛 worried. [The Spiritualty and Mental Health Webinar Series is open to the general public. See the schedule for the other upcoming webinars in the series.]

As he saw it, Miller had three factors working for her. One was her years of research, published in leading peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating that the consistent practice of any faith lowers the risk of depression and suicide and is linked to beneficial changes in brain regions associated with emotion. 鈥淗er findings validate what we, as people of faith instinctively know to be true and puts it in the vein of science,鈥� he says.

Miller鈥檚 listeners were also united by a sense of urgency stemming from the COVID pandemic. 鈥淥ur society is suffering,鈥� Solhjem says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 talk enough about the isolation, the suicides, the clinical depression, the people dying from other conditions because they can鈥檛 get in to see their doctors. We鈥檝e lost far more people than the COVID statistics show.鈥�

And then there was Miller herself.  鈥淪he breathes, lives and exudes her passion for what she does. And we who wear the uniform are also fairly passionate people, who are willing to put our lives on the line for something bigger than ourselves.鈥�

The result? Solhjem grins. 鈥淟et鈥檚 just say that it was the first time I鈥檝e ever seen a presenter at one of these meetings get a standing ovation.鈥�

Broader Context

The Spirituality and Mental Health Webinar Series isn鈥檛 just about the Army, but the kind of convening across religious, professional and political lines that Solhjem describes is very much at the heart of its purpose.

鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing the science of spirituality to the Army through the lens of Dr. Miller. 鈥淲e really want to enculturate this into everything we do.鈥�

鈥� Maj. Gen. Thomas L. Solhjem, U.S. Army Chief of Chaplains

The bridge-building starts with Miller, at Teachers College, and her counterpart within DHHS, , who heads the department鈥檚 (known informally as The Partnership Center). The two met at a DHHS conference during Summer 2019 and felt an immediate sense of connection. At Miller鈥檚 suggestion, they began planning for a joint two-day summit at Columbia, but pivoted to a webinar series after the pandemic hit.

Each webinar addresses a different potential focus for spirituality in mental health 鈥� severe mental illness, personal relationships, the life course 鈥� and each is followed by meetings of regional action groups from across the United States at which mental heath workers, faith-based practitioners and clergy, addiction counselors and other audience members discuss how to apply what they heard to local problems. More than 1,400 people tuned into the first webinar in early October.

鈥淥ur office works on opioid addiction, mental health and other challenges that touch families from every socioeconomic level, race and faith background, across the political spectrum,鈥� says Royce, whose center was first funded in 2001 by President George W. Bush as one of the original arms of his faith-based initiative and has been continued across all subsequent Presidencies, both Republican and Democrat. 鈥淲e have a vision of what could happen if we could build bridges between the clinical side and the faith-based side to serve people with mental health concerns and their families. Each webinar approaches these issues both from the head and the heart, from a scientific point of view and a view formed by lived experience. Our hope is to bring people together to build a connection of trust and action 鈥� because the real work has to be done locally. It鈥檚 the picture of how I wish more conversations could be in this country.鈥�

鈥淲e have a vision of what could happen if we could build bridges between the clinical side and the faith-based side to serve people with mental health concerns and their families. Our hope is to bring people together to build a connection of trust and action 鈥� because the real work has to be done locally. It鈥檚 the picture of how I wish more conversations could be in this country.鈥�

鈥� Shannon Royce, Director, DHHS Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives

鈥淲hen you create a collaborative partnership between a leading university and the government, it brings out people from all areas of society, and everyone brings their A game,鈥� Miller says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 top researchers, its outstanding leadership from among the Southern Baptists, it鈥檚 a General from the Pentagon, it鈥檚 activists and caregivers for the mentally ill, it鈥檚 scientists and theologians. Everyone is for our country, and no one is saying no. And that鈥檚 really the most important thing. To paraphrase the Rev. Dr. Walter Flucker [a leading expert on the papers of the African American theologian and civil rights activist Howard Thurman Papers and a forthcoming speaker for the SMBI-DHHS series], we need to learn how to assemble in common purpose, not necessarily how to agree.鈥�

Royce says that holding the series online has had its advantages. 鈥淭his way, anyone can join us 鈥� they don鈥檛 have to be able to afford a flight across the U.S. and a hotel room for two nights. But you do lose something when you can鈥檛 sit across a table from people.鈥� She鈥檚 hopeful that by next year, she and Miller will be able to hold in-person gatherings 鈥� one on each coast and another in the middle of the country.

Applied Focus

Meanwhile, Miller鈥檚 work with the Army chaplaincy is providing a model for the kind of applied follow-up that both Miller and Royce envision.

鈥淲hen you create a collaborative partnership between a leading university and the government, it brings out people from all areas of society, and everyone brings their A game. Everyone is for our country, and no one is saying no.鈥�

鈥� Lisa Miller, Professor of Psychology & Education and Founding Director of 麻豆原创's Spirituality Mind Body Institute

Later this year, Tom Solhjem will be bringing Miller to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, one of the world鈥檚 largest military installations, where she鈥檒l talk to a group of 200 top-level people 鈥� including the fort鈥檚 Three Star General Commander and the Surgeon General of the Army 鈥� about the science of spirituality. The site will then run a three-day pilot to bring her ideas to leaders further down the chain of command to effect more than 80,000 soldiers. (There are approximately 1.3 million active-duty soldiers in the U.S. Army, with another 865,000 in reserve.)  

鈥淲e鈥檙e bringing the science of spirituality to the Army through the lens of Dr. Miller,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e really want to enculturate this into everything we do.鈥�

Why is spirituality such a top priority beyond the Army chaplaincy? Solhjem pauses before answering.

鈥淟ook,鈥� he says. 鈥淕eorge Washington said that the job of the chaplain corps is to care for the soul of the Army. It鈥檚 a sacred trust. Ultimately, it鈥檚 up to each human being how to live their life, but we get this treasure 鈥� these young people at age 18 to 25, who are still learning and forming 鈥� and we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to nurture their spirit, because that鈥檚 what will best sustain them in the face of adversity. We owe that to them, to give them and their families the fiber they need to stand in their day of difficulty, and, if necessary, give their lives.

鈥淎nd what Dr. Miller has shown is that when you connect human beings with a belief in something bigger than themselves, especially within a community, the trauma in your life does not have to be the defining moment that breaks you. In fact, it can the basis for growing stronger, every day.鈥�

鈥� Joe Levine

[Read a story on Lisa Miller鈥檚 previous work with the U.S. Army chaplaincy.]

schedule

The Spirituality and Mental Health Webinar Series Schedule:

1. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Spirituality and Treatment: Systemic Treatment Models Bridging Faith and Mental Health Professionals   
2. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Spirituality and Post-Traumatic Growth: Spirituality as Catalyst for Resilience  
3. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Spirituality and Severe Mental Illness: Questions of Recovery versus Purposeful Renewal  
4. 鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Spirituality and the Life-time Course of Mental Illness: Support for Patients, Caregivers, and Family by the Faith Community  
5. 鈥� Spirituality and Relationships: Contributions to Faith and Forgiveness in Recovery   
6.  鈥�&苍产蝉辫;Spirituality and Community-wide Crisis: Building Systems to Support Connection and Recovery