When the global pandemic began to impact the world in March 2020, the demand for mental health services increased noticeably. Communities around the world have faced immense challenges – unemployment, lockdowns, restricted access to places of worship and the lack of physical contact with family members, friends and colleagues. Anxiety, fear and stress are normal when we are faced with uncertainty and the unknown. The pandemic has significantly changed our daily lives, our routines, restricted our movements and our innate coping mechanisms. Those challenges trigger mental health conditions or exacerbate existing ones. Yet, unfortunately, many communities have limited access to health services and mental health support, and according to a WHO Survey, the pandemic has disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of 130 countries worldwide.

Around the world, faith actors have been on the frontlines, providing pastoral care and grief counselling and caring for doctors and nurses overwhelmed by the magnitude of the virus. The upcoming KAICIID webinar will discuss the role of spirituality in health, as well as the mental health of vulnerable groups. It will also present examples of interfaith initiatives which have united communities and provided support in healing from trauma and addressing the stress of COVID-19.

Moderator:  Willard Walden Christopher Ashley, Sr. is the Founder and CEO of Dr. Willard Ashley, Sr., LLC, Montclair, New Jersey, and is a Nationally Certified Psychoanalyst. He is also the founder and senior pastor of the Abundant Joy Community Church, Jersey City, New Jersey.   Speakers: Wiwin Siti Aminah Rohmawati is a Board Member for the Forum for Inter-religious Harmony in Yogyakarta and the former Vice Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Islam (ISAIs) Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University. During COVID-19, Rohmawati launched an online interfaith mental health forum for women in Indonesia.  Rabbi Naomi Kalish is currently a Director of Pastoral Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She previously worked as the Coordinator of Pastoral Care and Education at the New York Presbyterian Hospital/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, teaching Clinical Pastoral Education to religiously diverse groups of students. Renz Christian Argao, an internationally certified expert in psychotrauma, is the Coordinator (Chair) of the International Youth Committee of Religions for Peace, the world’s largest and most representative multi-religious coalition, where he also serves as a Member of the World Council and of the International Executive Committee. He is a registered Psychologist and Psychometrician, and the Director and Chief Psychologist of the Argao Center for Psychological Services.