To the general public, theologist Jacobine Geel is a familiar face from television. For twelve years she was a presenter on the programme Schepper & Co for the NCRV. When we speak with each other, the recordings for her new talk show Jacobine on Sunday (NCRV) are still to take place. She has exactly one hour; after that, the jury for the Best Spiritual Book will be arriving on her doorstep. Geel is President, one of the many extra tasks she undertakes alongside her ‘main job’ as Chairman of the Board of GGZ Nederland. We are sitting in a café on her street. ‘This is my second living room,’ she laughs.
Is there such a thing as an average working day? “The only day that unfolds along similar lines each week is Monday. It begins in Amersfoort with a meeting at the GGZ Nederland office. After that I go to Hilversum for an editorial meeting. Other than that, none of the days are the same. From Amsterdam, I drive all over the country for work-related visits and GGZ meetings, covering about 35,000 kilometres per year. Reading, talking, lobbying – I have to know what happens in practice so that I can give feedback to politicians, municipalities and health insurers.”
What exactly do you do for GGZ Nederland? “On behalf of the members – institutions for mental health care and addiction care – I invest in relationships on the management level and communicate with community partners and politicians. It’s a two-way street: what does society expect from the GGZ, and how can we make clear what we do? Are adjustments necessary? Society is becoming more aware of our work, because it’s becoming more common for our clients to live independently or under guidance. This is great, but it asks a lot of the care providers, clients and society. Keeping these parties involved with each other is an important part of my job.”
‘Patients want to be treated, but people want to be seen’
You studied Theology at the Vrije Universiteit – does this resonate in your role? “Specialised mental health care consists mostly of medicine, psychiatry. You’re a long way from that profession as pastor. As a spiritual carer, you’re not a doctor or a therapist. Where the two do meet though, is in the increasingly held view that the most successful treatment encompasses the whole person and his or her life story, not just the part that’s sick. Because of my background, I was already convinced of this. Patients want to be treated, but people want to be seen.”
What were your ambitions as a student? “Somehow, I always wanted to do exactly what I’m doing now. To be involved with the world. I began to see religion as a motor, especially thanks to my childhood in Indonesia. But it’s also a hindrance. I find the two sides of this interesting. For me it was always about ‘religion and the world’ and less about ‘religion and the church.
“After my studies I was asked to be pastor at the Dominicus Church in Amsterdam. I enjoyed it and I learned a lot, but working in a setting like that was too closed for me.”
From pastor to television icon… “I already worked for the IKON during my year at the Dominicus Church, making radio programmes. I went on to do that full time after stopping as pastor. Shortly after that, I won the first round of Sermon of the Year, organised by daily newspaper Trouw. Suddenly I was in the spotlight. For a year I said yes to everything – from opening CDA conferences to speaking to a winter house painters’ club – and finally Leo Streng, the then IKON director, asked me if I would like to make television.”
‘I have received the opportunity, and have sometimes created it, to say yes to something’
You get asked to do a lot. Why do you think that is? “I’m a busybody. I’m curious and I think quickly, analyse and act. I have a lot of energy. Perhaps I radiate a kind of eagerness: I want to do a lot of things. Then you just get noticed. It’s not that everything’s just happened to me, but I am grateful. I have received the opportunity, and have sometimes created it, to say yes to something.”
Do you still have free time? “The TV seasons are getting shorter, so from the end of April I will have more time. Time for projects. Sometimes I just read a book too! But I’m also secretly thinking about a book I would like to write myself. At the moment, I write mostly short texts and every now and again, a sermon.”
You refer a lot to literature and poetry. What do they mean to you? “I’m glad I’m in a religion in which the phrase ‘In the beginning there was the word’ plays a big role. Language is more than a grinding, wheezing vehicle trying to convey a message between people. Language creates. But the destructive power of language is also huge. I find it hard to swallow the phrase ‘I have no words’. We’ll just see about that, I think then.”
You search for those words. “Yes, in all the work I do. I articulate things, whether it’s in a GGZ meeting or a television interview. A nice example of the power of words, I think, is the poem Alles is nieuw, [Everything is new] by Esther Jansma. It’s about the power of imagination and curiosity. About looking so carefully at everything, that things appear. That’s also what I was talking about with regard to mental health care – you have to look at the whole person. If people are really seen, that gives them power, even to start on the often complex road to recovery.”
CV BLOK
