NJ AWARE Launches Spiritual Awareness Event Series at CSPNJ

The Transition Mission Hospital Wellness Center team located at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital was honored to welcome the launch of a first-of-its-kind spiritual awareness event series on December 20, 2024. NJ AWARE (Are We Aware of Religious/Spiritual Experience) co-leaders Janet Werner, U Have My Word LLC President, and Dr. Calvin Chatlos, addiction psychiatrist with Rutgers University and Avatar Residential Detoxification Center, presented on spiritual aspects of mental health. The center is operated by Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ) a peer-led, non-profit agency that provides services by peers with lived experience of behavioral health conditions. NJ AWARE and CSPNJ are collaborating to implement this new initiative at community wellness centers located at state psychiatric hospitals to explore spirituality during recovery and psychiatric rehabilitation.

“Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey is proud to partner with NJ AWARE toward pioneering efforts to integrate spiritual wellness into psychiatric rehabilitation, promoting empowerment and comprehensive wellness for individuals in recovery,” stated Anne Smullen Thieling, CSPNJ COO.

“The lady spoke about how spirituality is linked in with mental and your physical [health]. I thought about how it would be in my life, and it really helped me!” to “get back into my spiritual self and keep finding myself,” said a member of the wellness center that was present. “I appreciate the doctor and the lady coming in and speaking to us, it really guided me down a good path. Also thank you to the Hospital and the Self help center for such guest[s].”

“The holidays are a great time to bring spirituality to awareness as part of mental health treatment and education,” shared Serena Zuppardo, CSPNJ’s advocacy coordinator, who oversees the agency’s hospital wellness centers. Members of the wellness center who reside at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital engaged in the discussion and expressed gratefulness to learn more about the topic, sharing their own personal spiritual experiences that transformed their lives. This was not the expected talk about the holiday “spirit” or even about the religious meaning associated with the holidays of Christmas and Hannukah. According to Ms. Werner, “People can have true spiritual experiences that are often not recognized or understood and can progress to ‘spiritual crisis’ and ‘spiritual emergency’ that is often misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder or even schizophrenia and is terribly harmful to a person.”

Dr. Chatlos, who has over 30 years’ experience in integrating spiritual work in psychiatric care, explains, “All people have a spiritual core that is mostly outside the scope of our conscious awareness. Certain stresses including losses or intense experiences may have a person open to spiritual experience that may occur with what we call mystical experiences of connectedness, energy and vitality, serenity and may provide meaning and purpose for our lives.” The NJ AWARE Campaign is working to inform mental health professionals and crisis workers, such as those part of the new national 988 crisis service, about spiritual experience and the need to be aware of and include this knowledge as part of their crisis assessments. The 988 system is designed to have mental health teams evaluate and respond to crisis situations rather than police who are often obligated to take persons to hospitals for psychiatric evaluation and possibly misdiagnosis and forced admission.

CSPNJ’s Community Wellness Centers are designed to empower people in recovery to realize a lifestyle centered on wellness, a balanced state of social, spiritual, financial, occupational, environmental, intellectual, emotional, and physical health. CSPNJ oversees the operation of 18 community-based, peer-run centers, including three on grounds at the State Hospitals (Ancora, Trenton, and Greystone). The mission of its Community Wellness Centers is to create a warm welcoming place where people can gain skills and motivation to set and achieve the personal wellness goals necessary for recovery. CSPNJ offers opportunities to access education, support, and resources to help people in recovery realize a lifestyle centered on comprehensive wellness. Learn more at cspnj.org/cause/cwc.

Additionally, the Wellness Institute at CSPNJ has been an international leader in promoting wellness and recovery for people communities, and the system. CSPNJ offers training on the Peer Wellness Coaching model, Peer Supporter Supervision, and a range of other wellness and peer support services competencies. The 8-dimensional model was created under the direction of Dr. Peggy Swarbrick, which has been adopted nationally and internationally, providing wellness selfcare tools for people in recovery, family supporters, and providers. CSPNJ focuses on making all of its projects accessible and understandable to all peers in the community. Learn more at cspnj.org/wellness-institute.

The next events in the spiritual awareness series are anticipated to take place at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital and Ancora Psychiatric Hospital (dates to be determined). For more information about NJ AWARE and events in the series, please contact Janet Werner at janetwerner@uhavemyword.com or 908-216-7302.

About NJ Are We Aware of Religious/Spiritual Experience (NJ AWARE)

NJ AWARE is a mental health, religious, and spiritual leader coalition. Its mission is to positively impact mental health in New Jersey, across our nation, and around the globe through the inclusion of spiritual & religious support in care. For more information about NJ AWARE, visit www.uhavemyword.com/a-w-a-r-e.

About Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSPNJ)

A statewide behavioral health agency incorporated in 1984, CSPNJ has established itself as a respected innovator of housing, Community Wellness Centers, employment, and economic development services that promote the wellness and recovery of people with the lived experience of behavioral health conditions. Starting with just three drop-in centers to what is now a statewide network of programs, CSPNJ is a nationally recognized leader in the design and delivery of wellness and recovery-oriented services, offering opportunities for people to live, learn, and work in the community of their choice. CSPNJ is celebrating its 40th year of operations in 2025, having provided supportive housing and community wellness centers for decades as well as homelessness services for over 10 years and outreach services for the past 5 years. CSPNJ is a HUD-approved Public Housing Agency that provides mainstream and CoC housing vouchers for over 20 years. For more information about CSPNJ, visit www.cspnj.org.