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Increasing Clergy's Knowledge Of Mental Illness, Confidence, And Willingness To Refer, Suzan Mae Davis Merritt
Increasing Clergy's Knowledge Of Mental Illness, Confidence, And Willingness To Refer, Suzan Mae Davis Merritt
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Over 43 million Americans suffer from mental illness annually with 40% seeking support from clergy (Polson & Rogers, 2007) who claim to be ineffectively prepared (Farrell & Goebert, 2008). This study investigated if mental health training administered to clergy would increase their knowledge of various mental disorders, alter their opinion regarding helpful resources, grow their self-confidence to help individuals experiencing mental health issues, and increase clergy's willingness to refer out. The theoretical basis for this research was attribution theory that attempts to explain social perceptions (Mannarini & Boffo, 2013) and the struggle individuals (i.e. clergy) have regarding the causation of …