Pressing On through life’s challenges

12 October, 2021

“If we want to live lives marked by sacrificial love, to sustain ourselves for the long haul of our walk with Christ, we need help and we need to look after ourselves well.”

— Rev. Dr Keith Condie

Every person experiences challenges throughout their life. Financial difficulties, moving to a new city or country, the loss of a loved one, or a pandemic – these can all impact our mental health.

Leading mental health experts have highlighted the need for preventative programs that support good mental health and Sarah and Rev. Dr Keith Condie of the Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute at Mary Andrews College saw a need for a course that addresses this from a uniquely Christian perspective. During a period of pandemic and lockdown in Australia, that need seemed even more pressing and their course ‘Press On: Building resilience and mental wellbeing’ was launched on World Mental Health Day, 10 October 2021.

‘Press On’ is a resource developed specifically for Christians, highlighting the particular benefits for wellbeing associated with Christian faith. You can do the course on your own as an individual, or in small groups (such as bible study groups). Churches and other organisations who would like to register a group of people can do so with a special discount, which increases the more people you register.

The seven-session course covers:

• understanding mental health & wellbeing, stress and its impact,

• developing healthy habits and routines, and

• the ‘PRESS’ acronym of resources and activities that assist wellbeing (P physical, R relational, E emotional, S skills, S spiritual).

‘Press On’ draws upon biblical truth, as well as key insights from psychological science. Each session contains video content from Keith & Sarah Condie, stories from people interviewed about what helps them to press on, opportunities for you to reflect and develop your own wellbeing plan, a bible reflection and prayer.

Paul Sheedy, Head of Mental Health at Anglicare, reviewed the course and notes “Poor mental wellbeing does not discriminate between people – it affects all parts of society, whether we are rich or poor, male or female, Christian or non-Christian. It is therefore pleasing that Keith and Sarah Condie have developed their Press On course to help anyone build their personal resilience and mental wellbeing.

“As Christians, it is not self-indulgent to focus on our own mental wellbeing. Rather by looking after ourselves we are best placed to live out God’s great commands of loving Him and loving our neighbour.”

In each session, there are a number of short videos, interspersed with ‘over to you’ breaks for you to use your workbook to reflect on the content and respond to the questions asked.   

There is an interactive pdf workbook to download and use throughout the course. The workbook can also be printed out by participants, if they prefer to handwrite notes and answers to activities.

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