Online and In-Person Therapy — Lincolnwood and Glenview, Illinois
Online and In-Person Therapy — Lincolnwood and Glenview, Illinois
Illness does not discriminate, and that includes mental illness. Still, treating illnesses includes treating different patients in ways they can accept.
For more than 20 years, Nefesh Chicago has served Orthodox Jewish mental health workers, and therapists serving Jewish clients, with professional support and training, networking, peer consultation, resource development, and community education. Nefesh also educates the public on personal, family, and community mental health issues.
“Orthodox Jewish mental health professionals trust Nefesh Chicago to deliver leading-edge clinical training relevant to the work they do in the community,” said Dr. Paul Cantz, Psy.D and vice president of Nefesh Chicago’s board. “Non-Nefesh Chicago members have also benefited from these trainings, since they promote the cultural knowledge and sensitivities required to treat Orthodox clientele.” A clinical assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Cantz is also a supervising psychologist with Hartgrove Hospital’s inpatient unit.
Nefesh tailors its professional training to the needs of Orthodox Jewish mental health professionals, and others who face such issues in their line of work. The organization’s members are Torah-observant psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, therapists, counselors, nurses, clergy, and others in the mental health field. Through Nefesh, they network, collaborate, and learn, addressing issues based on widely accepted mental health principles, within the framework of Torah and halacha(Jewish law).
“Nefesh provides education to clinicians, educators, rabbis, and rebbetzins (rabbis’ wives), and community members, and connects the mental health needs of Chicagoland with the resources of professionals worldwide,” said Nefesh Chicago board member Dr. Malka Miller, Clinical Psychologist at Barnes & Klatt and Yehi Ohr-Jewish Institute for Psychological Advancement .
This June, Nefesh Chicago, invited Dr. Mona DeKoven Fishbane, PhD. to speak about “Healing Intergenerational Wounds: A Relational-Neuro biological Approach to Transform Family Relationships.” Recently named 2017 Family Psychologist of the Year by The American Psychological Association, Dr. Fishbane presented a topic deeply relevant to everyone, yet perplexing to most.
In describing the relationship between innate biological tendencies and family interactions, Dr. Fishbane discussed ways of creating lasting change.
With an impressive command of the most recent neurobiology research, she shared key insights about the extraordinary influence our habits exert on our biological chemistry. Her cutting edge presentation provided the hopeful view that family members can actually break free of seemingly locked and damaging patterns.
Referring to her new book, Loving with the Brain in Mind: Neurobiology & Couple Therapy, Dr. Fishbane shared that while “we are shaped by nature (genetics), we are amplified by how we are treated.” Through her scholarly yet easy going manner, Dr. Fishbane imparted key insights and offered tools therapists can employ to help others overcome problematic dynamics of longstanding.
Each year, Nefesh Chicago crafts a variety of professional seminars aimed at mental health practitioners seeking continuing education. Summarizing Dr. Malka Miller, “Nefesh Chicago bridges local mental health needs with the resources of professionals worldwide, providing educational opportunities at every level.”
This accessible seminar approach offers local mental health practitioners a segue for developing personal connections with renowned presenters in a manner impossible to achieve through the long distance and online learning. In contrast, Nefesh encourages networking, broadening of scope, and skill enhancement within clinicians’ fields of endeavor with only a nominal charge for continuing education credits.
According to Dr. Rachelle Gold, “Nefesh offers outstanding academic exposure in an intimate setting, speaks to a wider Jewish audience, and regularly surpasses expectations”. In addition, the organization expends considerable resources providing community education related to safety and mental health to many levels of the community including teens, educators, rabbis, rebbetzins, and parents. Nefesh Chicago is expanding professional and personal horizons and enhancing community awareness of the robust Jewish counseling resources available to the wider Chicagoland area.
What is resiliency? It is a process to harness resources to sustain well-being. Children have a great deal of stress in their lives. When those stresses stay bottled up, they make their presence known in the children’s behavior. As educators, there are important ways in which you can give supportive action to build the self-esteem that children need towards being resilient.
Remember the five A’s that provide support to students:
Four Goals that Motivate Student Misbehavior