Make mental health a priority
May is National Mental Health Awareness Month and is dedicated to raising awareness about mental health, fighting stigma, and supporting the estimated one million Coloradans with mental health conditions and their families. It is also a time to check in with yourself and ask if you or your loved ones need additional support, want to make healthier choices, and are the best version of yourself?
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is an incredibly important part of overall health that must be prioritized and addressed. It directly impacts the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of ourselves, children, families, and communities. If you don’t make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness.
We all benefit from talking to someone. Whether you are struggling with a major career decision, have depression or anxiety, trauma, seeking acculturation, want support with caring for your loved ones with mental health conditions, want to explore LGBTQ+ identities, questioning if your current relationship is right for you, feel isolated, want support with parenting skills, or want to improve your coping skills, JFS offers several programs to help you and your loved ones. We provide in-person and online psychotherapy for adults, children, teens, couples, and families in addition to support and therapy groups. Our specific programs are described below, and we welcome the opportunity to work with you.
JFS Mental Health Specialists is an outpatient counseling center that provides therapy for those 6 and older. We have experienced clinicians who listen attentively, provide support and skills, and help with your identified goals and objectives. We provide multiple treatment modalities, including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Dynamic and Client-Centered Therapy, Existential Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Emotion Focused Therapy. Our therapists are bilingual in English, Russian, and Spanish, and we have individual, couples, and family therapy. We also offer an eight-week Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group.
JFS Russian Mental Health program provides accessible and affordable mental health services for underserved Russian-speaking immigrants and refugees who have resettled in Colorado. We have two highly skilled and professional therapists who are bilingual in Russian and English. They work diligently to help each client attain stability, well-being, and self-sufficiency.
JFS Refugee Mental Health program provides specialized, culturally sensitive, and compassionate mental health care and support services for refugees and immigrants of all ages, faiths, ethnicities, and countries of origin. Services are provided through trained interpreters for all clients who are not fluent in English. We work to increase accessibility to services by offering sessions on telehealth video, finding accessible locations for therapy, and, when indicated, offering home-based services. Services include:
Individual and family therapy
Mental health case management
Additional resources to access health care and other services that increase stability for individuals and families.
Our Refugee Mental Health program also provides psychiatric care through a partnership with the University of Colorado Outpatient Psychiatry.
We continue to receive many referrals for newly arrived Afghan refugees and are excited to welcome and support them. In April, we started a six-week Cultural Adjustment Group at South High School for newly arrived refugee students from multiple countries.
JFS has two unique school-based programs: KidSuccess and International KidSuccess programs. Currently, our therapists are placed in 14 schools throughout the Denver metro area to provide free mental health services to students and their families. Services are provided to children and adolescents at all age levels, including early childhood education programs, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.
These innovative programs place trained JFS therapists in Denver public schools, charter schools, and private schools, providing children and adolescents with access to quality counseling services in a non-stigmatizing, comfortable environment. Our unique hands-on approach promotes a supportive school environment for students that fosters achievement, high self-esteem, resiliency, and personal responsibility. We provide wellness groups in most schools.
Our school-based therapists join each school’s staff and provide valuable support to teachers and children and their families. They get to know students and the specific issues they face and develop trusting relationships. Because the services are offered free at school, children don’t have to worry about transportation or the cost of seeing a therapist. KidSuccess makes mental health care accessible to all children, regardless of Medicaid status, insurance coverage, or ability to pay.
In January, our mental health department began partnering with I Matter, a temporary behavioral health services program that provides up to six free behavioral health sessions for youth in Colorado. This program is funded by The Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Behavioral Health until June 30, 2022. We are honored to help children in our community access and initiate mental health services. Learn more about JFS’s involvement in the I Matter program.
There is a Hebrew prayer of thanks called the Modeh Ani. The English translation is “I give thanks before you, King living and eternal, for You have returned within me my soul with compassion; abundant is Your faithfulness!” According to tradition, it is said immediately upon awakening so that the very first thought of your day is one of gratitude. Gratitude improves your attitude. It is a positive and activating emotion. Just 60 seconds of gratitude a day can improve your mood, energy, sleep, life satisfaction, and outlook on life. With so much pressure overwhelming us every day, let’s practice gratitude and start feeling better.
For any mental health inquiries, resources, or to become a new client please click here. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you.
Boulder Mental Health Services
The Boulder County Crisis Counseling program, an established partnership with the Community Foundation Boulder County, has expanded rapidly to meet the unprecedented needs following the Marshall Fire. The panel currently has more than 200 providers. The program provides up to 10 free individual or couples/family therapy with licensed private practice providers for our neighbors impacted by the wildfires and/or pandemic-related stress. Learn more about this service.