Mental health burdens are increasing in all countries over the world. The impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health is concerning. In spite of the increased social and mental health issues, research has shown that 83% of those who are mentally ill do not seek professional help (National survey 2016).

Research studies show that people often seek counsel from clergy before seeking help from mental health professionals (Wang, Berglund, & Kessler, 2003) due to both a greater familiarity with clergy and because there is less stigma associated with pastoral counsel (World Health Organization, 2001, 2018).

Against the backdrop of this, we felt the need to design a project that looks at the well-being of women leaders in faith communities. Women carry a heavy burden as primary care givers in the home as well as the faith communities and are more susceptible to burnout.  Although the role of leaders wives and women leaders is fraught with challenges, there are multiple opportunities for flourishing by giving them the right training and psychosocial support. The issue of inability to handle stress is evidenced by the high burnout that leaders and their wives experience.

We as an organization will be addressing and identifying the issue of stress. Once this awareness is developed then we can help develop their resilience to cope with multiple daily stressors of being a wife, leader, mother and daughter. We have launched this program in the month of January 2022 to promote overall health and emotional wellbeing for women, who are constantly juggling various responsibilities at home and the workplace.

The program looks at addressing physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being for overall health. The Ahaana program would continue until the month of October 2022.  Through the program we would like to teach skills that promote physical and emotional wellbeing.

Modules like diet and nutrition will be taught and actual personalised and followed up. The physical module of Ahaana involves dietary guidance to maintain good physical health along with emphasis on regular exercise. Also blood tests to check health parameters, height, weight and BMI check along with consultation with a doctor.

The emotional module involves increasing self-awareness, understanding emotions through the word of God, and expressing emotions to God and others. Learning skills for emotional regulation. Skills such as PMR, journaling, deep breathing, mindfulness and grounding skills are taught.

During the Ahaana program a self-care plan for each participant has been prepared. The self-care plan helps the participants to work towards their goal of managing stress and increasing emotional well-being. Monthly Support group meetings are very key to this program. It engrains a sense of accountability, support, and a time of praying for each other.

Within 4 months of the program, there have been many positive testimonies of women being impacted by the program. One of the participants stated that “I have been encouraged by this program to take care of my health”.

We are looking forward to many more testimonies in the coming months.