with Matana
In part 2 of our talk with Alana Shlagbaum, who is not a therapist, doctor or any kind of health expert but a preschool teacher from New Jersey, Matana shares her own personal story with Alana, of how miscarriage and living with chronic bleeding prevented her from becoming pregnant.
Our guest today is not a therapist, doctor or any kind of health expert but a preschool teacher from New Jersey. She talks about our personal experiences with infertility, miscarriage, and living with chronic bleeding conditions. Alana struggled for years without having anyone who understood what she was going through, so she is here to offer that support she never had to others.
Communities often attempt to silence sexual conduct and misconduct and the associated secrecy and shame it fosters. Intentional secrecy surrounding sexual knowledge, sexual abuse and sexual addiction profoundly harms children and families in any community and especially one that is sincere and devout, such as Judaism. The Chasidic community in particular has an extreme level of secrecy to the degree that the word ‘pregnant’ is not said aloud, because it’s considered too sexual. Mordecai Salzberg, LCSW, is a sexual addiction therapist who works primarily with Chasidic Jews, and speaks about the havoc that this secrecy is wrecking.
What is connection? What does it mean to truly sit with somebody’s heart, holding and caring for it with such […]
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Author Gary Sweeney, wrote a brilliant memoir about growing up with his great-grandparents’ support. His book, The Light of Other Days, shows us the positive person that his great-grandfather was in his life, rather than focusing on his abusive parents, teachers and others. The title’s intent is to focus on the good days that have been or will be, rather than the deep darkness of the present. Gary experienced depression and lives with anxiety and sensory processing issues.
Have you ever lost something that was very dear to you? Like a flower blooming, our smile opens our hearts […]
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Margy’s father committed suicide and her struggle with his mental health symptoms didn’t end with his death. He was a hoarder. Margy, as his only child, was thrust into the role of going through her parents’ house after he passed. She was the one who had to hire help and a dumpster and motivate her mother to go through her belongings every single day until the house was cleaned out.
You might know someone with mental illness. Maybe it’s you; maybe a family member or friend. But it is someone you wish to see get better. You’ve seen them suffer, even while in treatment. Perhaps you have suffered as well. You wish there was another way for them to find help and hope in the darkness. Chazkeinu was created to offer that additional support to Orthodox Jewish women living with mental illness.
(As part of helping break the stigma surrounding mental health, we have decided to share real and vulnerable stories of […]
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Joe Brikman joins us to share with us how he has come to thrive, despite adversity. As a boy, he was sexually abused by a female babysitter and at the age of 12, shortly after he told his parents, his father was diagnosed with cancer. Joe was sent off to a boarding school where, no matter his accomplishments, it seemed he could never live up to their strict expectations. This, combined with the flashbacks and issues he was dealing with, made him feel hopeless, and he attempted suicide on his 14th birthday.