Former Massachusetts first lady Kitty Dukakis is presenting a discussion group led by fellow Brookline resident, Hadassah Margolis, at Congregation Kellilath Israel, which will meet every Tuesday from July 10 through August 7 from 7-8pm. Margolis is a clinical social worker and the lead therapist at the McLean Hospital Department of Spirituality and Mental Health.
All religions and levels of faith are welcome to join this discussion initiative, which will explore the connections between spirituality, religion and mental health.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 18.5 percent of adults in the United States – 43.8 million people in a given year – experience mental health illness. The percentage of youth aged 13-18 according to the National Alliance is 21.4 percent. Most Americans have either suffered from mental health issues themselves or have family members or friends who suffer from this condition.
Despite these staggering statistics, many Americans feel uncomfortable talking about mental health for fear of being labeled as weak or abnormal. Many hide their condition to avoid the social stigma they feel will accompany acknowledging their mental health situation. Others don’t seek treatment, exacerbating their situation.
Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic Presidential Nominee Michael Dukakis, has been a pioneer among well-recognized people who have shared their issues with mental health to educate the public and release the stigma associated with mental illness. Dukakis spoke on “60 Minutes” recently about her participation in electroconvulsive therapy to treat her chronic depression.
“I never heard from more people in my life than after talking about this therapy in that segment,” She said on the program. “The reason I did it is because so many people have absolutely no idea what goes into this type of therapy, it’s so un-scary really.”
Dukakis, who met Margolis recently at an event at Congregation Kellilath Israel, immediately came on board to support Margolis’ discussion group. “This sounds right to me,” said Dukakis.
Margolis helped develop the McLean Hospital’s first-ever spirituality and treatment groups. At McLean, Margolis works with seemingly the whole spectrum of religious and spiritual experience.
“In one therapy group at McLean, I had a lapsed Catholic, a reformed Jew, a Quaker by marriage, a UU-attending practicing Buddhist, a Wiccan, and an atheist,” Margolis said. “And that was just one group!” Margolis on helping her patients “I get to see their transformation and how they view their transformation.”
Margolis works with spirituality and treatment groups within six different populations across McLean. “Patients talk among other things about anger toward a higher power, religiously inauthentic people, alienation, guilt around substance abuse,” she said.
The spirituality and mental health discussion at Kehillath Israel is meant to be just that, an educational discussion; this is not a treatment group. “I hope people will feel comfortable sharing their experiences and talk with each other about the humanness of mental health,” Margolis said. “Religion and spirituality is an opportunity to think of your place in the world despite the hand you were dealt.”
Tuition for “Spirituality and Mental Health: A Discussion” is $100 for all five weeks. A reduced fee is available. The group will be limited to 10 participants.
To register for the discussion group, please email Hadassah Margolis at margolis.hadassah@gmail.com, or call Kehillath Israel’s office (617.277.9155) and leave your name and phone number to call you back.