J Proactive

Coach Moishe Chanin embodies a rich depth of understanding and authenticity, helping support others on their recovery journeys by sharing his own story and experiences. This incredibly inspiring live interview took place a day before the 7th anniversary of Moishe's sobriety. It was our honor to celebrate with him! It was mind-blowingly heartwarming and empowering. A MUST WATCH! Moishe is an ICF Certified PCC, and a trained and certified Addiction Recovery Coach. He is an important part of the Neshamos.org team and makes a huge impact on whoever has the good fortune to communicate with him. A big thank you to Eli Nash from Mic Drop for introducing us! Project Proactive is a grassroots volunteer initiative to build community, raise awareness, educate, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com

Because Sex & Pornography addiction is highly stigmatized and not regularly spoken about in many faith based communities, we are often left without the proper education about what addiction really means. What is the difference between curiosity / normal exploratory behaviors and addiction? How does shame contribute to this problem? What can we do as a community to support this common challenge? This #mentalhealthmonday (originally aired on January 13th, 2020) Yankie Greenberger, LCSW discussed the roles of pornography use and sexual addiction as it relates to religiousness and moral incongruence. Yankie is an expert Trauma and Addiction therapist as well as one of the premier adolescent therapists in Chicago's Jewish community. He has served as the clinical director of two community organizations which has collectively impacted well over a thousand individuals and families. In recent years, he has focused his clinical work specifically on trauma utilizing EMDR, Attachment-Focused EMDR, and related approaches. He has also completed the intensive Certified Sex Addiction Therapist training through the International Institute of Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP). Project Proactive is a nonprofit organization that works to educate the community, raise awareness, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com.

Everyone has a story to tell. Stories connect us. Stories make it easier for others to be open with their own stories. On March 25, 2019 Eli Nash, co-founder of Mic Drop, joined us for #mentalhealthmonday to share his story and empower others to dig for the gold in their own story. Eli shared his inspirational story of growth and healing from trauma using the power of storytelling and learning to create meaning in struggle. "There's an amazing shift that happened inside of me when I began using my story to influence change, inspire others and be a part of creating the world I would like to see... When we are able to create something positive from our experiences, it provides meaning to them. The greatest healing in the world is meaning. The experience of being abused suddenly meant something; it wasn't some random event that I needed to spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for. Instead it became an event that I look back at that was very purposeful and intentional. I was chosen to make a change for others in this one area of life." - Eli Nash Project Proactive is a grassroots volunteer initiative to build community, raise awareness, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com

Thank you so much to Beny Schonfeld who shared his personal story of survival, recovery, and now advocacy on our Mental Health Monday Instagram Live on July 1, 2019. Beny has made it his mission to spread awareness and encourage proactive support for pornography and sexual addiction. It's really important that we not keep our heads in the sand. We need to be aware of the dangers, and talk about them, so we can better support the next generation, especially with modern challenges of accessibility. Project Proactive is a grassroots volunteer initiative to build community, raise awareness, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com A bit more about Beny: Beny Schonfeld was born in Venezuela in 1977. He was introduced to porn at 11 years old in the 1980’s, well before the internet boom. That early experience marked the beginning of a 24 year addiction to pornography. As he grew through puberty and adolescence into adulthood, his dependence on pornography grew as each technological advancement of our age removed more and more barriers for accessing and consuming pornography. Finally, at age 35, at risk of losing everything he held dear, Beny hit his bottom, found help and recovery. Beny now shares his story of survival and recovery in order to break stigmas and end the shame associated with this type of addiction, so that stigma and shame will not be barriers for anyone to access the support they need. With the goal of contributing to a constructive conversation about Porn and Sex Addiction, Beny is now a strong advocate for sexual recovery, that is especially needed in society's current normalization and widespread consumption of Internet Pornography. Beny has made it his purpose to; challenge others to examine their own relationship with Internet Porn, to seek help, to give a voice to recovering Porn and Sex Addicts, and to educate and empower parents to have proactive, constructive, & open conversations with their children. With these open conversations, the next generation just might stand a chance of withstanding perhaps one of the greatest threats to their hearts, souls and happiness.

Erica Klein saved the day (literally the last minute) when Ori Goldstein of JACS Toronto was not feeling wall and unavailable to come to our #mentalhealthmonday live on March 11, 2019. (Sorry the sound is a few seconds off in the recording) If she was this good on the fly, imagine what she's like when she is prepared! In this recording, you will learn tips on how to support others (and yourself) through addiction challenges. Project Proactive is a grassroots volunteer initiative to build community, raise awareness, normalize the conversation, and break stigmas surrounding all things mental health. In order to further these goals, @project_proactive hosts weekly live interviews on Instagram with various mental health professionals, organizations, and people who have important stories to tell. Follow us on Instagram to find out about upcoming topics or to get more involved. You can also find more resources on our website, www.jproactive.com Erica's practice is in Cedarhurst, NY and she specializes in Depression, Anxiety, and Addiction. She strongly believes that awareness and breaking stigmas is the key to enhancing mental health (that why we love her so much - shared vision). Erica believes that increasing self-awareness, encourages empowerment and growth. Utilizing client based psychotherapy, she can help you find new tools and perspectives that will enhance your mental health and quality of life. Erica's experience is working with adults struggling with mood and anxiety disorders, trauma, addictions, relationship issues, and psychiatric disorders. Her approach is client and strength based centered, focusing on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness and Psychodynamic treatment to address identified needs. Erica is authentic, nonjudgmental, and empathetic, encouraging client driven goals to help motivate and develop better coping strategies and resiliency.

WATCH. LEARN. LISTEN. SHARE. By Amudim Community Resources. Please visit www.amudim.org for more information. It is one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make. If you are the parent of a teenager or even a pre-teen, you might have heaved a sigh of relief once you got through Purim safely, thinking that you could relax and not worry about your kid getting drunk, at least until Simchas Torah. You could do that. But if you did, you would be making a massive error, one that could have potentially devastating consequences. Because while Purim and Simchas Torah rank up there as two days where there are those who find it socially acceptable to get completely and totally bombed, excessive alcohol consumption is a problem in our community all year long. Keep your eyes open next Shabbos in shul. You might see the group of guys slipping out quietly during the haftora or the rav’s drasha for kiddush club, where they might have a shot or two or six, all under the guise of oneg Shabbos. If there is a kiddush after davening, check out the liquor table where adults and kids are pouring eight-ounce cups of hard liquor, with some coming back for refills. And then there are the guys who take the long way home once davening is over, detouring to friends’ houses where the herring, the kichel, and the divrei Torah are all accompanied by plenty of “spirited” discussion if you catch my drift. I’m not suggesting that we all swear off alcoholic beverages from here on in. But as the person who gets called in to deal with the train wrecks that happen when kids overindulge, let me leave you with these thoughts. Your kids are watching you 24/7. And it is your actions, far more than your words, that speak volumes. So if the highlight of your week is having a good time by blowing through a few bottles of “the good stuff” with the guys on Shabbos morning, know that in addition to putting an incredible amount of stress on your wife and your marriage, your kids might decide that a little bit of liquid sunshine might just put some pep in their step also. And the results, as we all know, can be disastrous. Don’t believe me? Watch our new video, The Kiddush Club. While it is a dramatization of actual events, know that these things happen in my neighborhood, in your neighborhood and in Jewish neighborhoods everywhere, the first step for many on the road to addiction and abuse, both potentially deadly past times. Like it or not, we are our children’s teachers and the behaviors we model for them often become the ones they adopt for themselves. Whether it is at a kiddush club, at your Shabbos table, at your Pesach seder, at a barbeque, a wedding or a birthday party, drink responsibly, as if your kids are watching your every move. Because let’s face it - they are.

Part of the Breaking the Mental Health Stigma in the Jewish Community series of talks led by mental health leaders from Sinai Health System addressing stigma related to mental illness that exists in the Jewish community.

Part of the Breaking the Mental Health Stigma in the Jewish Community series of talks led by mental health leaders from Sinai Health System addressing stigma related to mental illness that exists in the Jewish community.