New York State of Mindfulness

Hours after being born, some children in Staten Island are placed in the child welfare system. What impact can this have on their early development?Join Host Mila Myles for a conversation on early childhood (0-5 years of age) mental health care and advocacy with Jewish Board experts Angela Mendivil and Edward Boljonis from our Staten Island Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) program, and Kelsey Jorgensen, LMSW, a Clinical Coordinator for the Strong Starts Court Initiative with the Center for Court Innovation. They will discuss how they work with ACS and the court systems to keep their youngest clients and families together, and how CCP can help a child who has experienced trauma.

Experts say that social determinants of health – like race, class, and culture – effect everything from life span to wellbeing for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). What does that mean for their mental health?Join Host Mila Myles for the second part of a conversation with Jewish Board expert Faith Otobo, MSW, from their Bronx Supported Housing program, and Vibrant Emotional Health experts AVP Angela Mora, LMSW, and Ina Concepcion, PEP, FPAC, FDC, about the difficult topics of race, culture, and mental wellness, and what support communities actually need to survive and thrive together.

Experts say that social determinants of health – like race, class, and culture – effect everything from life span to wellbeing for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). What does that mean for their mental health?Host Mila Myles talks with Jewish Board expert Faith Otobo, MSW, from their Bronx Supported Housing program, and Vibrant Emotional Health experts AVP Angela Mora, LMSW, and Ina Concepcion, PEP, FPAC, FDC, about the difficult topics of race, culture, and mental wellness, and what support communities actually need to survive and thrive together.

El Barrio, or Spanish Harlem, has a long history of local art and artists from the early 1900's to the present. Host Mila Myles talks about the history of queer creativity and cultural resilience with current residents of El Barrio's Artspace, Richard Zimmer, Senior Production Artist at The Jewish Board's Alpha Workshops, and Arcadia Caraballo, Adjunct Lecturer at Bronx Community College.

Among the many milestones lost to COVID, families across NYC are grieving the loss of a major milestone for kids, teens, and young adults: graduation. Whether it's finishing first grade or First-Generation students graduating from college, digital celebrations just aren't the same. Host Mila Myles talks with youth experts Nicholas Tamborra, a Social Worker at School Based Mental Health, and Raysa Betances, a Youth Empowerment Coach at Cedar Knolls House, about how they're preparing students on Staten Island and families for their big day in June.

Often, public conversations on Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder end at childhood—but what does that mean for adults on the spectrum? Host Mila Myles interviews clinical experts from The Jewish Board's Mishkon program and The Seaver Autism Center on growing into adulthood with Autism in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

How do children learn to play in a pandemic? Host Mila Myles and three children's development experts, Pleshette Carr, LMSW, Michele Finkelman, LCSW, and Shondra Davis, PsyD., discuss the value of play in learning, how it changes for each family, and how our experts adapted their teaching and counseling to support Harlem families throughout the pandemic.

Host Mila Myles discusses COVID-19 anxiety, how it affects New Yorkers in the Fordham area of The Bronx, health disparities on race, class, location, and more, and the vaccine rollout throughout New York City with Dr. Kavita K. Trivedi, a leading epidemiologist and founder of Trivedi Consults, and Darlene Carrera, LCSW, The Jewish Board's Director of the Early Childhood Treatment Center Program and the Grand Concourse Counseling Center in the Bronx. See the resources covered in this episode at https://jewishboard.org/nysm002.

Host Mila Myles is joined by Carmela Fridman, Chief Medical Officer at The Jewish Board, and Michelle Latimer, Director of Psychiatric Practice at The Jewish Board, to discuss what seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is and how it affects New Yorkers in the Midwood area of Brooklyn.