G

rowing up, mental 
health therapist Ronit 
Szczotka read the 
popular Chicken Soup for the 
Soul book series, where every-
day people share personal 
journeys and challenges.
“I would read the books 
and relate to others,” the 
31-year-old recalls. She 
experienced mental health 
struggles in her family as a 
kid and didn’t understand 
them. “In the early-to-mid-
’90s, I saw how challenging 
it could be to not only access 
services, but also the stigma 
that surrounds it.”
At the time, people just 
didn’t talk about mental 
health, Szczotka explains. 
“It was something not to be 
discussed with anyone out of 
fear that it could negatively 
impact your relationships, or 
even your career to the point 
where you would be fired.”
The secrecy of mental 
health led Szczotka down a 
journey to learn more about 
it and to find answers to 
the many questions she had 
about what mental health 
truly was.

OPENING THE DIALOGUE 
ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH
As she grew older, she became 
a big fan of the hit TV show 

Law and Order SVU, where she 
first saw the field of forensic 
psychology and the career 
opportunities it offered. 
“It was shedding light and 
opening the dialogue about 
mental health and how it can 
impact people’s behaviors and 
actions,” she recalls.
Inspired by the show, 
Szczotka attended Beloit 
College in Wisconsin with 
the goal of going into forensic 
psychology. Yet, toward the 
end of her college career, “I 
found social work and real-
ized I could still explore men-
tal health without attending 
medical school,” she explains, 
hesitant to spend 12 years 
pursuing a medical degree.
Graduating in 2012, 
Szczotka immediately entered 
Avodah’s Jewish Service 
Corps where she got what 
she calls her “first taste of 
social work.” She worked as a 
housing case manager find-
ing homes for men who were 
homeless, while also learning 
about mental health condi-
tions like bipolar disorder, 
depression and schizophrenia. 
Later, while doing clinical 
rotations as a grad student 
at Wayne State University, 
Szczotka was placed at an 
inpatient psychiatric hospi-
tal where she learned even 
TOP: Ronit Szczotka and her daughter Orli. ABOVE: Ronit, Michael 
and Orli Szczotka.

Love, work and new motherhood: 
Mental health therapist Ronit 
Szczotka on navigating life.

Finding 
Balance

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

38 | MAY 5 • 2022 

NEXT DOR
VOICE OF THE NEW 
JEWISH GENERATION

