PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE MOVEMENT
Pastors, theologians, psychiatrists, doctors, therapists, specialists, researchers, and people with lived experience are coming together to learn, dialogue, and share knowledge for stronger churches and healthier communities around the world.
See Rapha in Action →
Rooted in Christ. Reaching the World.
Equipping the Church to address mental health gaps and soul wounds through a faith-rooted, evidence-based approach that brings biblical truth and clinical wisdom together.
PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE MOVEMENT
Pastors, theologians, psychiatrists, doctors, therapists, specialists, researchers, and people with lived experience are coming together to learn, dialogue, and share knowledge for stronger churches and healthier communities around the world.
See Rapha in Action →
"Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people… The real question is: How can we put our wounds in service to others?"
— Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer
The Silent Crisis
Have Experienced Depression
Nearly three in five U.S. Protestant senior pastors reported experiencing depression at some point during their ministry.
Experience Loneliness or Isolation
Pastors reported feeling lonely or isolated at least sometimes, including 18% who said they felt this frequently.
No Professional Support
More than half of pastors report not currently using professional sources of support or guidance.
Contemplated Self-Harm or Suicide
Nearly one in five U.S. pastors reported contemplating self-harm or suicide within the previous year.
The Global Treatment Gap
people globally live with a mental health condition.
of people living with mental health conditions in many low- and middle-income settings remain undiagnosed or untreated.
of people with major depressive disorder globally receive minimally adequate treatment.
Sources: Barna Group pastor surveys (2020–2025); WHO and global mental health literature. Pastor survey findings are self-reported and are not clinical diagnoses. Treatment-gap estimates vary by condition and setting.
Our Vision
Bridging biblical truth with clinically informed, culturally rooted care.
Dismantling stigma around mental health in faith communities—replacing spiritual blame with scriptural truth and clinical understanding.
Creating spaces where those hiding in shame find compassion, hope, and renewal—within the communities they already trust.
Restoring dignity and empowering churches to respond with courage and love not only to mental illness, but also to soul wounds and the deeper work of soul care—cultivating emotional, relational, spiritual, and mental wholeness and human flourishing across nations.
Our Approach
Renew
Biblically-integrated mental health literacy that helps leaders and congregations understand mental health through both scriptural and clinical lenses. Reforming theology to dismantle stigma from within.
Restore
Pastoral soul-care addressing the unique mental health challenges faced by ministry leaders—trauma, burnout, and isolation. Confidential support and peer groups for those who carry the heaviest burdens.
Equip
A turnkey Faith-Rooted Wellness Blueprint enabling any church to launch a wellness ministry. Tiered approach: Wellness Circles for everyday struggles and Grace & Hope Groups for diagnosed illness and families.
Connect
Forging two-way bridges between faith and healthcare systems—reciprocal referral networks and shared feedback loops that position churches as trusted mental health access points.
Bridging biblical truth with clinical wisdom to transform how communities heal.
We challenge who generates valid health knowledge—positioning faith communities as essential architects of equitable health systems.
Theological truths that align with evidence-based care—not replacing science, but integrating with it. Scripture as a legitimate health knowledge source.
Validated instruments, manualized interventions, and implementation science methodology. Built on WHO task-shifting recommendations for low-resource settings.
Co-created with communities, not imposed upon them. Honoring cultural contexts, reframing mistrust as protective wisdom, and dismantling colonial legacies in healthcare.
Rapha in Community
A faith-rooted, evidence-based movement equipping churches to address mental health gaps and soul wounds—restoring wholeness and flourishing in the Church as God intended.
Mental Health · The Church · A More Flourishing Tomorrow
Rapha in Action
May 2026 | Ghana
In Ghana, Rapha is building relationships with pastors, clinicians, and church communities to bring mental health conversations into spaces of faith. The May 2026 clergy gathering brought hundreds of leaders together for learning, dialogue, and a shared vision of flourishing.
“Equipping the Church to bring hope and healing to every community.”
700+
Clergy engaged
200+
Churches
2 million+
Members across the network
Our Story
Through years of clinical practice, ministry, and walking alongside fellow believers, we have witnessed a painful reality: many Christians are faithfully serving, leading, loving, and showing up for others while quietly carrying profound wounds of their own.
Behind outward appearances are struggles with mental illness, shame, unforgiveness, and unresolved pain—wounds that can quietly shape how we see ourselves, one another, and even God.
Rapha was born out of a deep conviction that the Church was never meant to be a place where suffering is concealed by silence and shame, but rather a place of refuge, truth, and grace, where we can bring our brokenness into the light and encounter the healing and transforming presence of Christ.
We believe that brokenness does not have to be the end of our story. God does not simply cover over our wounds; He redeems and transforms them. Like gold filling the fractures of a broken vessel, even the places marked by pain can become places where His presence and glory shine.
We believe the Church is called not merely to respond to mental illness, but to address the deeper wounds of the soul. This is the heart of Rapha: to restore and cultivate shalom—the wholeness and flourishing God intended.
Founder
Founder & President, Rapha Global Initiative
Dr. Rahel Bosson is a psychiatrist dual-trained in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry and serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. Her work bridges clinical care, community engagement, global mental health, and faith-rooted approaches to healing and human flourishing. Throughout her career, she has developed and led innovative clinical and community-based programs across diverse settings and contexts, expanding access to mental health care for underserved populations, including immigrants, refugees, and individuals living with serious mental illness.
Rooted in her Christian faith, Dr. Bosson founded Rapha Global Initiative to equip the global Church to address mental health gaps and the soul wounds people carry—bringing together the hope of the gospel and evidence-based care within a vision of biblical shalom: the wholeness and right relationship God intends. Rapha seeks not only to respond to illness, but to restore and cultivate emotional, relational, spiritual, and mental wholeness so that individuals, leaders, and churches can flourish through the redemptive work of Christ.
Our Global Team
A multidisciplinary community of clinicians, educators, researchers, counselors, and ministry leaders bringing together faith, mental health, and culturally grounded care.
Neuropsychiatrist & Medical Educator
Senior Lecturer and Acting Head of Psychiatry at the University of Ghana Medical School and Consultant Psychiatrist at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. His work integrates clinical care, education, research, and faith-sensitive approaches to mental health.
Theologian & Ministry Leader
Chairman of the Governing Council of Apostolic Church Theological Seminary and member of The Apostolic Church Doctrine Watch Committee. A former USA Area Superintendent, pastor, engineer, educator, and author, he brings decades of theological and organizational leadership.
Clinical Psychologist & Educator
Clinical psychologist, educator, researcher, and faith-community leader committed to culturally responsive, evidence-based care. Her work emphasizes underserved communities, mental health education, mentorship, and emotional and spiritual flourishing.
Counselor Educator & Global Mental Health Leader
Counselor educator, supervisor, and scholar-practitioner whose work spans counselor education, ministry leadership, multicultural engagement, and relational mental health. His international work integrates evidence-informed practice, faith, and culturally responsive care.
Psychiatrist & Mental Health Leader
Head of Mental Health and Wellness at the University of Ghana Medical Centre, with expertise across adult, neuro-, geriatric, and consultation-liaison psychiatry. She also serves as Ghana Country Lead for the Sub-Saharan African Brain Health Initiative.
Clinical Psychologist & Researcher
Clinical psychologist, researcher, and Associate Professor at the University of Ghana Medical School; former Head of Psychiatry and immediate past Chair of the Ghana Psychology Council. She co-leads the MHealer Digital Mental Health study in faith-healing camps, and founded Psych Corps for community psychological first aid. She sits on the Boards of the Enterprise Group, Databank and the Accra College of Medicine.
Social Work, Theology & Global Mental Health
Professor and Director of the PhD Program at Smith College School for Social Work, couple and family therapist, and Fulbright scholar. His work spans trauma, spirituality, immigrant and refugee health, community capacity building, and global partnerships.
Therapist & Faith-Mental Health Practitioner
She is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Therapist trained in counseling at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, with experience in trauma, crisis intervention, substance use counseling, outpatient mental health, and group therapy. Her therapeutic approach integrates culturally responsive, evidence-based practices with the hope of the gospel, creating a compassionate and collaborative space where clients can pursue healing, growth, and emotional well-being.
Clinical & Health Psychologist, Professor & Minister
Professor of Clinical and Health Psychology and Director of the Centre for Ageing Studies at the University of Ghana. An ordained minister of The Church of Pentecost, he works at the intersection of mental health, faith, culture, and ageing. He is a leading advocate for suicide prevention and serves as Africa Regional Coordinator for the International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Partnerships for Life initiative.
Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Licensed Associate Clinical Mental Health Counselor and National Certified Counselor with 14 years of experience. Her work centers on culturally responsive care, immigrant populations, and bridging mental health and faith in both clinical and church settings.
Psychiatrist & Faith-Mental Health Scholar
Psychiatrist in the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Psychiatry Residency program with interests in community psychiatry, trauma, moral injury, and spirituality. Active in preaching and teaching in his local church, he explores the dialogue between clinical psychiatry, biblical counseling, and the Church’s resources for caring for people who suffer.
A Global Vision Rooted in Faith
This model is not just for one church or country—it is a blueprint for global impact.
Introduce the Rapha vision to 700 pastors at the national conference. Launch the pilot across 40 US congregations of The Apostolic Church—Ghana's network.
Embed this work in theological training institutions, preparing future leaders to sustain it for generations. Partner with missiology universities globally.
Train-the-trainer model ensures community leadership and adaptation to local needs. Churches become self-sustaining mental health access points.
With global partnerships and documented impact, disseminate through trans-denominational faith networks across continents. A blueprint for worldwide application.
Join the Movement
Register your interest to participate in the Rapha initiative, receive materials and resources as they are developed, and be first to access useful tools for your ministry or practice.
Discover Rapha’s mission, four pillars, and opportunities to partner with us.
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