Description:
This day-long institute will bring together mental health practitioners, chaplains, pastoral and spiritual care providers, medical providers, and behavioral health professionals. and community leaders to explore how religion and spirituality intersect with mental health. Through presentations, dialogue, and practice-based learning, participants will gain tools for assessment, deepen their understanding of spiritual dimensions of healing, and explore interventions that are culturally and spiritually responsive.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of the training participants will be able to:
Presenters:
Nora Dennis, MD, MSPH, PFAPA
Dr. Dennis is the founder and CEO of Jubilee Integrated Wellness. Her approach integrates psychopharmacology, somatic interventions, ecotherapy, psychotherapy, nutrition, and mindfulness. She has served as a faculty member at Duke University School of Medicine since 2014 and continues as an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Her clinical experience includes psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, ecotherapy, and brain stimulation for treatment-resistant illness. Before she was a physician, Dr. Dennis was a yoga teacher, and she maintains a yoga and movement practice. Her training in awareness of the mind-body connection within herself and others has been foundational to her approach to medicine. In addition, she has completed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training.
Russell Siler Jones, ThD, LCMHCS
Russell is a psychotherapist in Asheville, NC, Director of CareNet/Advocate Health Wake Forest Baptist’s Residency in Psychotherapy and Spirituality, and Developer of ACPE’s Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy Program. He is author of Spirit in Session: Working with Your Client’s Spirituality (and Your Own) in Psychotherapy (Templeton Press, 2019) and writes on Substack at Spiritize (Spirit eyes).
Chaplain Alvernia Disnew, M.Div., ACPE Certified Educator, Ph.D. Candidate
Alvernia Disnew is a chaplain and spiritual care specialist in the Department of Spiritual Health and Education at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital. Ordained in the Baptist tradition and endorsed by the National Baptist Convention, she brings a deeply rooted spiritual and cultural perspective to her work, weaving together psychology, religion, and lived experience in holistic care. She is pursuing a Ph.D. in public theology and community engagement at Hampton University. Her experience includes leading a girls’ group home and a women’s halfway house to support safe community reintegration. Alvernia also teaches and counsels healthcare professionals, emphasizing the role of spiritual and emotional well-being in healing. A self-described Baptist mystic, she is committed to sacred, person-centered care that empowers and transforms.
Kennetra Irby-Brackett, DMin, MSW, LCSW, Chaplain
Rev. Dr. Kennetra Irby Brackett is Associate Director of Field Education & Career Development at Duke Divinity School. She is an ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a licensed clinical social worker, and a certified hospice and palliative care social worker. Dr. Brackett previously pastored in Littleton, N.C., and led Pediatric Bereavement Services in Raleigh, where she mentored LCSWA licensees and supervised social work interns. Dr. Brackett earned her D.Min. as a Rural Clergy Fellow and her M.Div., with a certificate in Theology, Medicine, and Culture, from Duke Divinity School. She also holds an M.S.W. and a B.A. in Romance Languages from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—proudly referring to herself as a “Blue Heel.”
Greta Martin, LCSW
Greta Martin, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker who works with adult clients across a range of life stages. She is known for her warm, approachable style and brings particular passion to supporting older adults and their caregivers. Greta earned her MSW from NC State University and has years of experience providing compassionate, client-centered care.
Amanda Rigby, M. Div.
Rev. Rigby serves as Executive Director to The Well Mental and Spiritual Care and as Pastor of Christian Education and Spiritual Formation at Edenton Street United Methodist Church in downtown Raleigh. She is trained spiritual director and ordained elder in the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is passionate about being a spiritual companion to those who are seeking deeper spirituality, to clergy, and to folks in the LGBTQ+ community. In her role at The Well, Amanda works to advocate for mental health care as a human right made accessible and available for all.
Millicent N. Robinson, PhD, MSW, MPH
Dr. Millicent. Robinson is an Assistant Professor in the UNC School of Social Work with a secondary appointment in the School of Medicine, Department of Social Medicine. Her scholarship bridges academic rigor with spiritual healing practices, exploring how disconnection of the mind, body, and spirit due to societal forces can impact health and well-being. As a certified Reiki master practitioner, Dr. Robinson applies evidence-based stress reduction practices in research and community workshops. Currently, she develops culturally-relevant mindfulness interventions for Black women with cardiometabolic risk factors, building on research examining how high-effort coping affects Black women’s well-being amid structural barriers. Dr. Robinson earned her B.A. in Psychology, MSW, and MPH from UNC-Chapel Hill and her PhD in Community Health Sciences from UCLA
Elizabeth Watters, Ph.D., LMFT
Dr. Watters is a researcher and professor who specializes in exploring and working with the impact of systemic trauma and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) across the lifespan. They also co-direct The Well and offer life coaching. They’re passionate about increased accessibility to trauma informed knowledge, treatment, and healing in marginalized communities.
References:
- Cucchi, A., & Qoronfleh, M. W. (2025). Cultural perspective on religion, spirituality and mental health. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1568861. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568861
- Gamboni, C. M., Watters, E. R., & Reed-Fitzke, K. (2021). Gender, religious, and political ideologies among three-generation families: Implications for family conflict. Family Relations, 70(5), 1529-1545. https://doi.org/10.nn/fare.12559
- Hill, E., & Yancey, G. (2022). Trauma and congregations: The importance of trauma sensitivity in local religious congregations. Social Work and Christianity, 49(2), 181-196. https://doi.org/10.34043/swc.v49i2.191
- Jouriles, E. N., Sitton, M. J., Rancher, C., Johnson, J., Reedy, M., Mahoney, A., & McDonald, R. (2025). Spirituality, self-blame, and trauma symptoms among adolescents waiting for treatment after disclosing sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 160, 107214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.107214
- Karki, N., Warlick, C. A., Baimel, A., & Jong, J. (2024). Religiosity, spirituality, and mental health in eight countries. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 16(4), 388-396. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000521
- Kaufman, C. C., Thurston, I. B., Howell, K. H., & Crossnine, C. B. (2020). Associations between spirituality and mental health in women exposed to adversity. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 12(4), 400-408. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000254
- Leo, D., Izadikhah, Z., Fein, E. C., & Forooshani, S. A. (2021). The effect of trauma on religious beliefs: A structured literature review and meta-analysis. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 22(1), 161-175. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524838019834076
- Robinson, M. N. (2022). Pushing past limits: How efficacious is high-effort coping for self-rated health among African American and Caribbean Black women? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(20), 13460. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013460
- Taylor, E. H. (2023). The myth of spirituality. Journal of Social Work, 23(6), 1005-1021. https://doi.org/10.1177/14680173231166830
- Watters, Elizabeth R., Casey M. Gamboni, Amanda L. Rigby, and Matthew Becker. “Exploring Contradictory Roles: A Qualitative Examination of Women in Church, Home, and Work Settings.” Journal of Feminist Family Therapy 33, no. 4 (2021): 354-377
- West, T., MD, Rana, J., MD, Awan, S., MD, & Sagot, A. J., DO. (2024). 1.77 systematic review: A 25-year global publication analysis of the role of spirituality and religiosity in suicidal risk assessment in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 63(10), S183-S183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2024.08.097
UNC Chapel Hill – Clinical Institute Program