jews d
in
the
Too Much
Stress?
Teens find some answers at
Adat Shalom workshops.
STACY GITTLEMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
tlight o
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“We will explore the
open to enrolled Nosh
connectedness between
& Drash students, other
these three elements
Adat Shalom teens and
and how thinking nega-
their friends. On March
tively will ultimately lead
5 and 12, Issner will offer
to negative behaviors,”
workshops to parents in
mental health
Issner said. “However, by
the community, and these
thinking positively and
parents do not have to
using coping mechanisms
have a teen enrolled in
like deep breathing and
the Monday evening pro-
mindful meditation, kids
gram.
can literally rewrite the
“Being a human is
messages they send to
stressful, and there will
themselves from negative
always be good and bad
to positive ones.”
stressors in life,” Issner said. “Through
Jodi Gross, director of adult learning
these workshops, I want to give students
and youth engagement at Adat Shalom
and their parents supportive tools and
who serves on the community’s Teen
knowledge on how to handle these
Mental Task Force, said her synagogue’s
uncomfortable emotions. I also want to
strategy from the task force findings is
make them aware of what red flags to
look for if anxiety reaches a point where to begin with this workshop to focus
on the teens, then their parents and, in
it is necessary to contact a mental
coming months, to address other age
health counselor.”
groups, including children in
After the first meeting, where
their pre-b’nai mitzvah years.
the students spoke openly
Gross said the teens asked to
about what caused them
create this workshop. Creating
stress and anxiety, Issner said
a safe space to address mental
the next two sessions would
health within their Jewish com-
involve activities that center
munity of peers seemed the
around the connections and
most nurturing solution.
interactions within the “tri-
Student Jessica Goldberg of
angle of thoughts, feelings and Jessica Goldberg
Farmington Hills helped craft
behaviors.”
teen
n
E
very now and again, the typi-
cal teenager forgets to hand in
a homework assignment. To the
Gen X adult, this may seem a minor
academic transgression. But, to their
teen children, negative thoughts about
a late assignment can balloon into anxi-
ety about slipping grade point averages,
rejection from colleges, less opportuni-
ties in a future that looks bleak and
uncertain.
Welcome to the mindset of today’s
average teenager. According to a 2016
community assessment study by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit and its counterpart, the Jewish
Fund, about 53 percent of the youth
responders indicated they or their
friends struggle with anxiety and just
less than half struggle with sadness,
depression or low self-esteem.
Taking a proactive and respon-
sive approach to this study, Adat
Shalom Synagogue of
Farmington Hills in
February and March is
offering “Teen Stress
101” workshops on
mental health, facilitat-
ed by clinical psycholo-
gist Jackie Issner, Ph.D.,
LP.
Dr. Jackie Issner
The workshops are
the workshop series. She said that
during a busy school day at North
Farmington High School, there never
seems to be the right place and time to
talk about stress and anxiety at school.
It just seemed more natural to bring
up these feelings amongst her Jewish
friends in a Jewish space.
This is also why Goldberg recently
founded Sib4Sib, a support group held
at Adat Shalom to provide a safe space
and community for teens to express the
frustrations of having a sibling strug-
gling with mental health.
“Stress can be very isolating. As a
teen, you sometimes think you are going
through all these problems on your
own, and you are the only one feeling
stressed, anxious or unsure about the
future,” said Goldberg, who hopes to
pursue a career in clinical psychology.
“But after we got to talking together at
the first workshop, a lot of us realized
we are stressed about the same things.
And when you realize you are not alone,
that is a good start to alleviating some
of the anxiety.” •
The workshops for parents about teen stress,
open to the community, will run from 6:45-8 p.m.
March 5 and 12. For details, contact Director of
Education Melissa Ser at (248) 626-2153 or email
mser@adatshalom.org.
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14
February 22 • 2018
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