Addressing mental health

NICOLE NOZICK

More than 40 people gathered at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture on Wednesday, Aug. 15, to participate in a Philosophers’ Café on the topic A Philosophy on Mental Illness in Vancouver’s Jewish Community. The event was hosted by the Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia (JMABC) and presented with the Jewish Family Service Agency (JFSA). Rebecca Denham, JFSA mental health outreach worker, moderated the discussion.

One of the topics addressed in Denham’s introductory talk was the role that the Holocaust can play in community members’ mental health. “I learned to recognize that [the Holocaust] is a very, very important piece in the Jewish community when working with people that have mental health issues, and how they connect themselves with this piece of their culture, their history,” she explained.

Adjusting her intake interviews to address these concerns with clients, Denham said she finds families appreciate the opportunity to talk openly. “Now that I’m including that in my intake ... or initial dialogue with people, it’s almost always an untold story that somebody wants to share with me, whether it’s a story of, you know, ‘I don’t want to talk about the Holocaust but my parents are survivors ... and my mom experiences depression and my dad died by suicide.’ So, I mean, any way I can throw it in, it becomes a very telling place for people to start really opening up.”

Denham added, “It’s an important piece in this community that leads to different types of therapy.”

Emphasizing the importance of being open to the issue of mental health, Denham said, “This is an important discussion and I hope we’ve been able to connect with more folks, to get a community dialogue going, and to create more awareness, to let people know who they can call. I hope we can continue this conversation and help to remove the stigma about mental illness, a stigma that is still at large.”

At the Philosophers’ Café, audience members shared some personal experiences of coping with mental health issues, as well as their efforts to access help.

Attendees included representatives from JFSA, mental health professionals, representatives from the Yaffa Housing Society, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s youth outreach department and the Vancouver School of Theology. Denham detailed many of the services JFSA offers to clients and a few of the mental health professionals present shared their experiences and expertise in working with clients.

Stephanie Rabin, youth outreach worker at the JCCGV, introduced what her department is doing to address issues affecting youth at risk in the Jewish community and alerted the audience to an upcoming event that will focus on mood disorders to be held on Oct. 11. (For more information about that event, visit jccgv.com.)

Kara Mintzberg, JMABC education coordinator, explained the idea behind the Philosophers’ Café series. “We love bringing debate and storytelling into our space and feel privileged to host this event for all its philosophers – professional and vocational, alike. These cafés bring subject experts face-to-face with a community circle of recreational philosophers, everyday people who are interested in having deep and different conversations outside our regular ‘screen-size’ worldview [and] to listen to a 30-minute introduction and then participate in a 90-minute question-and-comment period, open to the entire circle. These evenings provide a great time to just listen, learn and speak – three very simple but meaningful things that are commonly overlooked in our day-to-day schedules.”

The next Philosophers’ Café, on Parenting, Power and Control, will be moderated by Christopher Burt, a parenting and family development specialist who holds a master of arts in counseling psychology. It will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m., at the Peretz Centre.

Nicole Nozick is a Vancouver freelance writer and director of the Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival.

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