Healthy Boundaries, Self-Care Important for Clergy and Spiritual Teachers
Healthy boundaries are imperative to maintain the integrity of the ministerial relationship. If you have taken our Healthy Boundaries training, you know that self-care is a key component of the curriculum A Sacred Trust: Boundary Issues for Clergy and Spiritual Teachers, an integral resource used during this training.
The importance of healthy boundaries and self-care for clergy is discussed in the following New York Times article.
Taking a Break from the Lord’s Work
by Paul Vitello, New York Times
Published: August 1, 2010
NY TIMES--The findings have surfaced with ominous regularity over the last few years, and with little notice: Members of the clergy now suffer from obesity, hypertension and depression at rates higher than most Americans. In the last decade, their use of antidepressants has risen, while their life expectancy has fallen. Many would change jobs if they could.
Public health experts who have led the studies caution that there is no simple explanation of why so many members of a profession once associated with rosy-cheeked longevity have become so unhealthy and unhappy.
But while research continues, a growing number of health care experts and religious leaders have settled on one simple remedy that has long been a touchy subject with many clerics: taking more time off.
