Making Space for Mental Health in the Church with Daniel Whitehead

How can the church support people and their mental health well? Can the church move beyond offering simple platitudes or just referring people to professionals and moving on? Can we better become a community that knows how to listen, stay present, and walk alongside people in their suffering? In this conversation, Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen welcome Daniel Whitehead, CEO of Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries, to explore the complicated intersection of faith, suffering, and mental wellbeing. Drawing from his own experience of pastoral burnout, Daniel challenges our tendencies to love a good testimony. We gravitate toward tidy stories of suffering overcome, where everything gets better in the end. But faith doesn't mean our struggles are always resolved—or that we have to stay in a place of victory. Supporting mental health in the church isn't about replacing professional care. It's about asking what happens between therapy sessions, when someone is navigating the ordinary, difficult hours and days of life. Listen in for a conversation about honest stories, faithful friendship, and how the church can become a place where people don't have to be "better" to belong. About the Allender Center Podcast: For over a decade, the Allender Center Podcast has offered honest, thoughtful conversations about the deep work of healing and transformation. Hosted by Dr. Dan Allender and Rachael Clinton Chen, MDiv, this weekly podcast explores the complexities of trauma, abuse recovery, story, relationships, and spiritual formation. Through questions submitted by listeners, stories, interviews, and conversations, we engage the deep places of heartache and hope that are rarely addressed so candidly in our culture today. Join the Allender Center Podcast to uncover meaningful perspectives and support for your path to healing and growth. At the Allender Center, we value thoughtful dialogue across a wide range of voices, stories, and lived experiences. In that spirit, our podcast features guests and hosts who may hold differing perspectives. The perspectives shared on this podcast by guests and hosts reflect their own experiences and viewpoints and do not necessarily represent the views, positions, or endorsements of the Allender Center and/or The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology. Stream each episode, plus find transcripts, additional resources, and more at: theallendercenter.org/podcast To become a supporter of the Allender Center Podcast, visit: https://theallendercenter.org/2025/11/podcast-support/ If you and your organization would like to partner with the Allender Center Podcast, please reach out to Clay Clayton at [email protected]