People receiving talking therapies support through Jami, part of Jewish Care, will now benefit from the Jewish mental health service’s four new counselling suites, generously funded by The Wohl Legacy.
The new Wohl Counselling Suites, together with the waiting area, at Jewish Care’s Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Campus in Golders Green, have been designed for one-to-one counselling. Each suite is themed to connect to nature and the four seasons of the year.
Jewish Care CEO Daniel Carmel-Brown, says, “This generous commitment from The Wohl Legacy has allowed us to create a bespoke, welcoming and safe space to conduct talking therapy sessions for Jami clients of all ages. It has also enabled us to recruit extra practitioners to help support the growing number of young people and adults who are living with mental illness and distress in our community.”
Talking therapies help to prevent emotional issues from worsening and having a significant impact on a person’s life, as well as supporting the recovery of a person whose mental health is affecting their ability to function in their day-to-day life and in their relationships. Jami’s non-judgemental counselling service provides a range of different modalities of therapy – for example, psychodynamic, person-centred, humanistic, integrative and Gestalt.
Following the service’s recruitment of additional therapists, it has expanded from providing one-to-one talking therapy sessions for adults to now include young people aged 11–18, who are already accessing Jami’s support through The Dangoor Children and Young Person’s Service. Jami’s Talking Therapies service supports people struggling with everything from anxiety and depression to self-harm and suicidal ideation.
Louise Kermode, Director of Community Mental Health Services (Jami), says, “The need for counselling, especially among young people, is greater now than ever before. The support of The Wohl Legacy has come at a time when the lack of mental health services available to people coincides with an increasing number of those struggling with their mental health. It can be challenging to talk about how we feel when we are finding it difficult to cope. Being able to provide our clients with an appropriate, warm and welcoming environment to express their emotions, is therefore so important.”
Professor David Latchman CBE, Chairman of The Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation, says, “We are pleased that the new Wohl Counselling Suites will help to enhance the specialist mental health support available through Jami’s Talking Therapies service for young people and adults in the Jewish community who depend upon it.”