Meet the Healers: Saint Luke Center in Louisville Marks 15 Years of ‘Team Approach’ to Mental Health & Spiritual Care

In August of this year, leaders and staff of Saint Luke Center in Louisville, a ministry of Saint Luke Institute (SLI), officially marked the 15th anniversary of the opening of their doors. This week, staff in the Louisville area are celebrating that anniversary at a special dinner. In a video which marked the 15-year celebration (see below), Emily Cash, Psy.D., the founding Director of the Louisville office who continues in that role, spoke about the small beginnings of the office and how it has grown over the years. The growth, she noted, highlighted the “team model” that has marked the work of SLI as a whole, based on the recognition that such an approach to mental and spiritual care offers “multiple perspectives” and a richer awareness of a person and of their particular mental strengths and challenges. Other staff noted the kindness of everyone on the team to each other and to those in their care, whether through outpatient treatment or assessment of candidates for priesthood, diaconate or religious life. Still others, more recently part of the Louisville team and to SLI, recognized the value and help of being able to learn from those who have worked in the field of care for clergy, religious and other ministers and leaders in the Church for many years, noting how it helps them see their own gifts in light of that team approach. In the video, Dr. Cash especially noted that being a part of that service to SLI’s mission “feels very gratifying.”

Dr. Cash, who also directs SLI’s candidate assessment program, also marked 20 years of service at SLI this year. Speaking in an email message to all SLI staff in both offices, Marianne Durgavich, RN, SLI Chief Operating Officer, said of Dr. Cash, “Your dedication to our mission and all your hard work on behalf of SLI cannot be overstated.”

Marc DelMonico, PhD, Director of Mission Partnerships and Communications for SLI, noted the significance of a triple celebration: Saint Luke Center celebrating 15 years, Dr. Cash celebrating 20 years with SLI, and SLI itself embarking on its own 50th anniversary celebration, inaugurated at its recent October Benefit. “These two significant milestones for SLI, and the two decades of service Dr. Cash has given to that mission, are not just pins on a calendar. They represent hundreds of lives touched in a positive way – priests dealing with burnout who are able to return to ministry renewed; deacons finding new skills to better address work-life balance and family demands; religious sisters renewing a sense of self-esteem, brothers finding the support they need to enter recovery from painful addictions,” he said. “The work of the Louisville team and the tireless efforts of Dr. Cash herself have been a big part of our mission at SLI, and serve as a reminder, as the organization celebrates 50 years, that it has and will continue to grow in response to the mental health and spiritual care needs of those who serve the Church.”