Welcome to our website where you will find a range of important information on the increasingly important topic of spirituality and mental health. Both in the field of mental health and beyond there is an increasing awareness of the need to promote an approach based on 'mind and soul' and our aim is to promote this awareness through our regular events as well as through our website. We are unique in having representatives from most of the major faith traditions on our Council of Management.
We hold regular seminars each quarter at which a guest speaker presents on a topical theme relevant to spirituality and mental health. We also organise a memorial lecture each year to honour the memory of the late Professor Peter Gilbert who did so much to raise awareness of the link between spirituality and mental health. You will find details of previous and planned events by clicking here.
We also organise an Open Forum in June of each year where there is an opportunity to share developments and good practice in the area of spirituality and mental health.
We would very much welcome your interest and involvement. For a modest fee of 25 pounds you can join as a friend of the Forum - this entitles you to free admission to our quarterly events. You can also join our mailing list - for further details click here. We do hope that together we can work to raise awareness and promote action on the important issues of spirituality and and its links with our mental health in our increasingly complex world.
We are delighted to announce that the Second Professor Peter Gilbert Memorial Lecture took place on 9th May and was presented by Professor John Swinton who is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen. He is also an honorary Professor of Nursing at the university's Centre for Advanced Studies in Ministry.The two and a half hour lecture focused on the Naming things properly: re-imagining “mental illness”, "dementia", and other seriously misunderstood experiences.It explored some of the ways in which we have come to misname the experiences that are associated with certain forms of mental health problem, causing many of us to misinterpret and respond negatively to such experiences. The lecture offered a spiritual perspective that can effectively help us to re-name such experiences in ways which offer hope and new possibilities.
