Wayfaring: A Christian Approach to Mental Health Care

A theologically and scientifically engaged exploration of modern mental health care

The current model of mental health care doesn’t see people: it sees sets of symptoms that need fixing. While modern psychiatry has improved many patients’ quality of life, it falls short in addressing their relational and spiritual needs.

As a theologian and practicing psychiatrist, Warren Kinghorn shares a Christian vision of accompanying those facing mental health challenges. Kinghorn reviews the successes and limitations of modern mental health care before offering an alternative paradigm of healing. Based in the theology of Thomas Aquinas, this model of personhood affirms four truths: We are known and loved by God. We are creatures made of earth who are formed in community. We are wayfarers on a journey. We are called not to control, but to wonder, love, praise, and rest.

Drawing on theological wisdom and scientific evidence, Kinghorn reframes our understanding of mental health care from fixing machines to attending fellow wayfarers on the way to the Lord’s feast. With gentle guidance and practical suggestions, Wayfaring is an essential resource for pastors and practitioners as well as for Christians who seek mental health care.

Warren Kinghorn is a psychiatrist and theological ethicist whose work centers on the role of religious communities in caring for persons with mental health problems and on how Christians engage practices of modern health care. Jointly appointed to the faculties of Duke Divinity School and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Duke University Medical Center, he is codirector of the Theology, Medicine, and Culture Initiative at Duke Divinity School and practices psychiatry at the Durham VA Medical Center.