JEWISH FAMILY & COMMUNITY SERVICES EXPERT SERIES: 65+ AND By Nicole Andrews, Jewish Family & Community Services
Are you over 65 and fabulous? Do you know that people over 65 make up the fastest growing age demographic in the United States? People in this age group are living longer, better and younger than ever before. However, as with any life stage, late adulthood brings changes and challenges and this group is designed to explore them all. The monthly group will bring in the experts to educate, then together the group will break it down. The goal is to explore, empower, support and make the most of the retirement years!
The inaugural meeting of the “Expert Series” kicked off in the Chartrand Tolerance Education Center at Jewish Family & Community Services on March 8. Attendees (both in person and virtual) learned about the Psychology of Aging: 65 and Better with Jewish Family & Community Services (JFCS) therapist Karen Hanson, LMHC. The series is designed to be an informal presentation with attendee participation encouraged, but not required.
Karen educated participants in psychological theories surrounding the late adult stage to help our participants understand some of life’s expected changes. She also shared plenty of tips and tricks to empower and celebrate how wonderful aging gracefully can be and how to make the retirement years the best they can be.
34
In addition to introductions to mindfulness, meditations and gratitude, participants were taken on a visual trip to Okinawa, Japan, home of the greatest aggregate of centenarians in the world. Researchers have studied the aging population in Okinawa for decades and learned that while they seem to live the longest, they also live the fullest and happiest. This is due to the concept of Ikigai. Ikigai translates to “reason to live.” Researchers have concluded the Okinawan people have a strong desire to live because they have a strong sense of purpose and a strong commitment to doing what makes them happy. Okinawans avoid societal pressures and dial in on identifying and feeding their inner needs to reach peace and happiness. Karen provided an opportunity for participants to identify their own Ikigais and provided
Thriving
short and long-term strategies to implement them into the retirement years.
The next installment in this series, “Stress Doesn’t Have to Be Stressful: Incorporating Jewish Values and Cognitive Behavioral Methods to Diminish Stress and Amplify Happiness,” will be on April 10 at 10 a.m. in the Stein Boardroom located at JFCS’s 6261 Dupont Station Court, 32217. Rabbi Nadia Siritsky, BCC, RSW will be the guest speaker and will discuss all things stress-related and learn valuable practices and techniques based in Jewish tradition.
Rabbi Nadia is a Reform rabbi and psychotherapist, who has served at several synagogues, most recently Temple Bet Yam in St. Augustine, and has extensive experience working in capacities including community-based counseling, hospice and palliative care, community organizing, health care leadership and administration and education. Her doctoral research is in compassion fatigue and burnout for health care workers. Rabbi Nadia is a second-generation Holocaust survivor, and is committed to doing everything possible with fighting prejudice and injustice in all of its forms.
On May 10 at 10 a.m., the group will take a different approach and embark on The Debrief, led by Nicole Andrews, MS. The Debrief is designed to be a group-led conversation about the previous experts, but to also delve deeper into how to apply this knowledge to our day to day lives in order to ensure we are living our best lives while also building a toolbox to tackle life’s challenges. We recognize our peers can provide a great deal of expertise and understanding that cannot be offered elsewhere and we will use this opportunity for peer discussion and support. Attending previous sessions of the “Expert Series” is not a prerequisite for attending the Debrief. We will also devote some time to discussing the types of experts desired by the group for future sessions. Please email Nicole Andrews at nandrews@jfcsjax.org or visit our website at www.JFCSJax.org/Expert-Series for more information on “The Expert Series."
