Bethlehem: Christian counselling centre helping to ease the anguish

Graffiti in Bethlehem © ACN

Source: Aid to the Church in Need

A Catholic psychotherapy initiative in the West Bank has been instrumental in addressing the mental health crisis in the Holy Land - where at least 60 percent of Palestinian Christians need counselling. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem opened the Bailasan Counselling Centre in Bethlehem in June 2024, with support from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

It is the only mental health centre in the region specialising in helping Christians.

Psychologist Albert Khader Hani told ACN: "The war affects all aspects of people's lives here, especially Palestinian Christians.

"It is our responsibility as leading Palestinian Christians to work with them, because there are a lot of mental health centres here, but they do not focus exclusively on the Christian community. We have our own identity, and we want to save it, and to continue our vision with them, to live safely."

ACN funded the transformation of an old convent into the Bailasan Counselling Centre, as well as supporting a job creation programme for staff.

Hala Batarseh, a social worker at the institution, told ACN: "This sort of work, through Christian values, has never been done before. We are not like other centres - we are Bible-based. If a non-Christian comes to us, we refer them to another centre."

Sister Lorena Cecilia, a local Comboni missionary with a psychology degree, said that "some people are afraid" to visit the centre due to a "stigma" around mental health.

She said: "People think they might be judged, [so] they are afraid of sharing their problem… Our job here is not easy. Despite this, things are much better than before. And the success of our work has already begun to effect a change in the culture."

Sister Cecilia added that staff do not just wait for people to visit them, but they also actively engage with the community - including schools, parishes and existing support groups - offering to help.

She said that the centre's work with young people is especially important because many of them plan to emigrate.

She added: "A big problem is the separation of families, parents abroad, or children planning to go abroad…

Physically they are here, mentally they are thinking only of emigrating."

LINK

Aid to the Church in Need: www.acnuk.org