Meet Skye, Avodah’s Mental Health Advisor
You’ve probably seen the headlines: Americans are in the midst of a mental health crisis. While this affects people of all ages, Gen Z (people born 2003-2012) are experiencing the particular negative impacts of growing up in a time of ubiquitous school shootings, climate catastrophe, and polarized politics. No wonder they are struggling!
As the National Mental Health Advisor for Avodah’s Jewish Service Corps, it is my job to provide support for Corps Members as they devote a year to intensive direct service in cities across the United States. Especially as mental health struggles are inextricably linked to the health of our social systems, it is important to provide support for those who are engaging in larger social change work to be able to stay involved and shape a better future for all of us.
Corps Members are a self-selecting group of young people who choose this program because of their passion and interest in tending to the kinds of big pervasive issues that are most concerning to their generation. They care about the big issues and want to take action to make a difference.
Avodah is committed to giving Corps Members the resources to do this work effectively and sustainably, and providing mental health support is a critical tool to addressing burnout.
I lead group programming on topics like resource mapping and navigating endings and help individual Corps Members access mental healthcare resources in the city they serve. I help them navigate through the present challenges and build resilience and skills to stay in this work long term.
One key workshop I lead for Corps Members is on Trauma Stewardship. We discuss the ubiquity of trauma, and the inevitability of feeling burnt out while taking on the most pressing issues facing our communities.
We then share strategies on how to repair and care for ourselves and each other, in the face of these challenges.
These frameworks and capacities are so essential for those engaged in justice work. And they are even more essential now in this current political moment, which is compounding existing mental health strains among young people, especially among those in trans and immigrant communities that are being targeted by federal actions.
Even despite these challenges, I am encouraged by the factors for resilience that young people are using to navigate this time. Some of those factors include an interest in taking action on issues of importance and creating a sense of “belongingness” through community-building activities. The Jewish Service Corps program actively supports these areas of resilience, integrating years of experience in community building with responsiveness to the current moment and Corps Member needs.
Another resilience factor I’ve seen among young people and Service Corps members is an increased willingness to talk about mental health concerns and less stigma around seeking therapy. While the thinking has changed a lot about seeking mental healthcare, the insurance system and the psychological and logistical barriers remain. Most of my one-on-one consultations with Avodahniks are focused on the process of finding a therapist—discussing insurance, what they are looking for and how to search for that on therapist profiles, communicating about their needs in first conversations with potential therapists, and generally demystifying the process and being there to get them through the first steps.
So far this year I’ve met with 17 Corps Members and to work on taking steps towards finding a therapist which is a big win.
Even for those who never meet with me one-on-one, I’ve heard from a number of Corps Members that just knowing there is a mental health advisor who is available and consults with other staff members helps them feel cared for.
The term “trauma-informed” has become a buzzword that many organizations claim to be. But Avodah works (and acknowledges needing to continue to work) to uphold the core principles of trauma-informed care, including being transparent about the challenges of the program, understanding of the impacts of personal and collective traumas, supporting Corps Members voices, and being responsive to concerns raised.
One thing that I stress to Corps Members is that building resilient and caring communities is lifelong work. I’m proud to support them in that journey, and provide the resources and frameworks that will help support their ability to tend to the personal and societal challenges.
Skye lives on Nipmuc and Pocomtuc land (Western Massachusetts) with their spouse, the world’s cutest dog, and the many beings they share the land with. They graduated with a Master’s in Counseling in 2017 from the somatics program at California Institute of Integral Studies and work as a Mental Health Advisor for the Avodah Service Corps, a somatic coach for private clients, and as a lifelong student of liberation teachers and frameworks including animals and the natural world. When they aren’t doing any of these things you can find them inside a science fiction book, watching birds, or attempting to “be creative”.
