Welcome to Emotional Wellness, a project of SIMHA, the Sephardic Initiative for Mental Health Awareness.
Yesterday we spoke about the concept of connection, and the importance of connection.
There's a famous theory in psychology called the attachment theory, created by John Bowlby, a psychologist that worked in England.
His studies were done in orphanages, and basically, he found that children who did not have a specific caregiver were getting sick more often, and were basically withering away due to the lack of attachment. There were infants, and 2-3 year olds who didn’t have a specific caregiver. It doesn't have to be a parent, but it has to be a designated caregiver, that is theirs, that they feel connected to.
That builds what we spoke about yesterday; that first year or so of a child's development is all about the attachment to those external caregivers, who are usually the parents. Some of the studies were actually done on Israeli kibbutzim because in the original kibbutz theory, the parents would work in the fields and the caregivers would be non-parents who would take turns, and that had an impact.
There is a need for connection throughout life. The need for connection and the dangers of isolation and rejection are all interrelated. Rejection is a lack of connection. Isolation is a lack of connection. That's why one of the worst things that can be done to someone in prison is solitary confinement, where they're all alone and unable to connect to anybody.
As we mentioned long ago, the pain of an illness or any challenge is not always the illness itself, which is, of course, painful. Rather, it's the loneliness and the detachment of being alone in the illness. And that's even more in a mental illness when a person is really alone, because there's no one to share it with. He's not wearing it on his sleeve, and no one knows what's going on.
In fact, one of the benefits of therapy is that when a person is in a therapeutic relationship, it gives them an opportunity to connect, to share what they're going through and be understood by an outsider. Studies have shown that it's not necessarily the modality of therapy that heals the person, but the connection that he has with a specific therapist.
I'd just like to take opportunity, since this is a SIMHA platform, to say that for those of you who are from the Sephardic community in Brooklyn, we have SIMHA, a wonderful organization that is really built on this concept. We don't only give referrals. Our model is that after a short screening on the phone with a mental health professional, a person comes in to meet and start the therapeutic process.
It's their entry point into therapy. That means when you enter the office, you are in a therapeutic space. It's confidential, it's warm, and there's someone there to foster that connection and create that safe space to be able to share.
From there, it's decided what the long-term plan is, but the therapeutic process has begun. It's like you're putting your toe in the water, and we try to overcome many of the blockades and barriers that people have. Studies show that from when a person thinks they need therapy until they actually go to therapy could sometimes take years. We're here to try to make it easier for people who are suffering from the vast amount of mental health challenges that are out there.
So again, you can either call (929) 841-5160 from 9am-5pm, or send an email to office@simhahealth.org and you can start your therapeutic process. Have a wonderful day.
We hope we can help you.