JFS Professionals Offer Sessions at Annual Twin Cities Mental Health Conference
Three JFS professionals will present breakout sessions at the 2024 Twin Cities Mental Health Conference, “Building Connection, Community, and Mental Health Toolkits.” on Sunday, October 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Temple Israel. The conference is free and open to all.
During the first breakout session from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., JFS Community Chaplain Rabbi Lynn Liberman, BCC, will co-present with Chaplain Emily Youngdahl Wright “Tending to Spirit, Healing the Soul.” In our challenging world, spiritual care helps us find ways to foster deeper tenderness, awareness and grounding. Through music, art and listening, with hands-on practice throughout, explore the impact of these modalities make on the well-being of ourselves and those around us. Participants will obtain personal tools and materials to use at this session and beyond.
Rabbi Liberman was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1993. She served as a congregational rabbi for over 20 years. In addition to her position as Community Chaplain at JFS, Rabbi Liberman is an on-call chaplain for Regions Hospital, Gillette Children’s Hospital, and MHealth Fairview Hospitals, in addition to working as a casual chaplain for Our Lady of Peace Hospice.
During the second breakout session from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., JFS therapist Stephanie Larson MSW, LICSW, LCSW, will present “Grief: A Spectrum of Loss and a Variety of Ways to Get Through It.” In this session, attendees will gain an increased understanding of grief and loss as a spectrum that includes a variety of types of grief and loss. The newly added DSM-TR criteria for Prolonged Grief Disorder will be reviewed and differentiated from other commonly assigned disorders when working with grief. Attendees will gain confidence in supporting others or themselves through grief, receive intervention suggestions, and learn about grief as a normalized part of the human life cycle.
Stephanie Larson is a psychotherapist who has helped many clients work through a variety of losses. Stephanie will draw from both her personal and professional experiences in this clinically informed, yet candid, discussion on grief and loss. She will normalize grief as a natural part of the life cycle, define different types of loss, and offer ways to support yourself and others through the grief process by engaging in empathy and patience while letting go of unrealistic or societal expectations.
Also during this time, JFS therapist Tara Burns, LPCC, will present “Ecotherapy and Connecting with Nature to Help Improve Mood, Health and Wellness.” There is a growing body of research on how nature plays an important role in human health and well-being, including reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD, and fatigue, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, improving mood, helping with pain management, reducing morbidity, and more. Learn how Ecotherapy and spending time in nature can help treat both the psychological and physical ailments of the human condition by reestablishing a strong connection with the natural world.
Tara Burns is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor at JFS. In addition to providing therapy, she co-facilitates a caregiver support group and support classes for caregivers. She provides therapy for adults across the lifespan and specializes in working with people in the second half of life, in addition to couples. Tara has a master’s degree in counseling and psychotherapy and a passion for combining the beauty of nature with the power of healing.
The annual conference is a collaboration of JFS and JFCS. Register here.