Jewish community professionals to be offered free mental health training

Professionals across the Jewish community are being offered free mental health training.

Jewish charity, Project Lily, will roll out its services to hundreds more people working within the community, citing the adverse impact of the pandemic on people’s mental wellbeing.

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Jonathan Dove, Clinical Director of the initiative said; “Jewish communal organisations come into contact with tens of thousands of people every week, many of whom are functioning normally on the outside but inside they’re starting to fall apart.”

He called the Covid-19 lockdown “an earthquake”, adding that “we have to respond now to the resulting mental health tsunami.

“We know that over 80% of adults have experienced symptoms of poor mental health such as continuous low mood, anxiousness, low self-esteem, or hopelessness while in lockdown. These people need help, and with NHS therapeutic waiting times exceeding 3 months, enabling early interventions makes an enormous difference.”

The initiative has already been providing support to staff and organisations such as  Work Avenue, Jewish Learning Exchange, Jewish Futures Trust, Seed, and the Campaign Against Antisemitism. The expansion will help hundreds more to be better equipped at identifying and responding to the mental health issues they encounter.

Among training on offer covers the basics of mental health, stress, anxiety, depression, and self-care.