Building resilience

COVID-19. The Highland Park July 4 shooting. October 7. Rising antisemitism.

Jewish teens have faced a slew of traumatic events over the past several years, contributing to a surge in mental health struggles. In fact, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy has declared that America has a mental health crisis and stigma is one of the main barriers for people seeking treatment.

No Shame On U (NSOU) is dedicated to eliminating the stigma around mental health conditions so people seek help and family members and friends can provide proper support. To address the needs of younger generations, NSOU recently launched its teen resilience synagogue initiative.

The pilot program was held in partnership with JCFS Chicago and funded by the JUF Mental Health Initiative, with three local synagogues participating: Temple Jeremiah in Northfield, Temple Beth Israel in Skokie and North Suburban Beth El in Highland Park.

“We thought it would be great to have this program in a synagogue because you already have community there,” explained Dr. Anat S. Geva, Director of Strategic Initiatives at NSOU. “It’s a good place to talk to kids about the importance of connection because they already have a built-in supportive environment.”

The program, which was an adaptation of the work that NSOU had already been doing in schools, included a series of three workshops focused on coping and self-care; community, support, and trust; and suicide.

“That’s a strength of No Shame On You: We can customize based on community needs,” Geva said.

In his role as Director of Congregational Learning at Temple Jeremiah, Matt Rissien appreciates bringing mental health education to a Jewish setting.

“We can’t just shy away from it,” he said. “Jewish values reflect the importance of mental health and having conversations about caring for yourself and others around you. We want to provide trusted role models between clergy and teachers, and be a space where kids feel like they can talk to us.”

Planning for the teen resilience synagogue initiative began in the spring of 2023 and the pilot started in the fall. While the original motivation was to host programs at synagogues that were most impacted by the Highland Park mass shooting, October 7 presented an even greater need for mental health support for teens.

“We stressed the need of leaning into your community,” Geva said. “The importance of not isolating is usually the number one thing we talk about.”

Geva led the workshops alongside Wendy Singer, Executive Director at NSOU. In addition to gaining mental health literacy, teens developed skills to recognize symptoms in others and how to help.

“Kids often think that when a friend is struggling, they have to fix it,” Singer said. “We try to explain to them that their role is not to fix it. There are professionals out there who can, but they can be supportive in simple, easy ways, and we brainstorm different things that they could do.”

“We focus on making sure that teens remember that they are teens, and they are not adults,” Geva added. “It’s inappropriate and unfair for teens to think that they should be taking on the weight of somebody else’s crisis. It’s important that they ask for help and the best time to practice these skills is when they’re not in crisis.”

She adds that the final session on suicide included some of the most engaging conversations among the teens. “We were honest,” Geva said. “While it can be a hard and, sometimes, a taboo subject, we explained that suicide does happen. We discussed the small things that we can do to protect ourselves and help others.”

Looking ahead, synagogues from around the Chicago area have already expressed interest in participating in year two of the initiative. “There are no bounds to this,” Geva said.

“We’re very fortunate to have these resources to help us educate on some of the more challenging conversations that need to happen in our institutions,” Rissien added.

For more information about NSOU, or to book a workshop for your organization, visit noshameonu.org.