Ministry carries profound meaning—and often, deep emotional complexity. In the work of tending to others, it can be difficult to find space for your own reflection and care. Finding a mental health professional who understands the unique challenges of ministry, offers a truly confidential space, and provides thoughtful, high-quality care can be challenging.

First UMC Lexington supports the mental well-being of local clergy and church staff by offering a reflective and confidential setting where they can slow down, listen inwardly, and attend to the parts of themselves often left unseen in the demands of ministry.

Pastors are often the first to recognize when a particular congregant is struggling, and they’re often the first, and sometimes only, person a suffering congregant confides in. Pastors themselves long to serve and to help their congregants, but how does one discern when to provide pastoral care and when to refer out to a mental health professional? This workshop equips pastors to recognize the responsibilities of their role, to distinguish discipleship and pastoral care from clinical mental health counseling, identify indicators for a professional referral, and build a referral process that maintains a pastoral relationship rather than ends it. 

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Articulate the distinct purposes, methods, and scopes of discipleship/pastoral care versus licensed mental health counseling.
2. Identify indicators that signal a need for professional referral.
3. Apply a practical decision-making framework to real pastoral scenarios.
4. Make a warm, barrier-reducing referral while continuing appropriate spiritual care.
5. Describe legal and ethical considerations, including confidentiality limits, duty-to-warn situations, and scope-of-practice liability.

Kentucky United Methodist Clergy will receive .2 CEU