The purpose of this toolkit is to provide college students with a comprehensive explanation of common mental health disorders, resources, definitions, and so much more. Not many college students know or understand the topic, which makes it difficult for them to seek help when they are experiencing mental health challenges. I hope this toolkit gives college students an understanding of mental health that’s basic enough to help them recognize their own mood, behavior, or experiences and potentially connect them to one of the mental health disorders. Knowing that one feeling is not just being crazy, lazy, or weird but rather is a true mental health disorder can work to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and make more college students feel comfortable seeking treatment.

Downloads

Ladder of Emotional Regulation

We have a variety of strategies and skills available to manage and/or “regulate” ourselves when we feel overwhelmed. Their effectiveness depends on the person as well as the type and intensity of the distress they are experiencing in that particular moment. Several types of tools address the different aspects of the emotional experience, and we can address our needs from all sides. We can manage unhelpful thinking, employ sensory strategies to calm our bodies, use social support to validate our feelings and get help when we need it.

Downloads

Brachot (Blessings) and Intuitive Eating

Jewish rituals surrounding food can be a fantastic tool for developing mindful eating practices and strengthening our ability to eat intuitively. According to Jewish tradition, before and after eating any food, a blessing should be said. However, the blessing recited before eating is not a generalized prayer of gratitude. Rather, each blessing is specific to the kind of food you are eating.

Audio + Video, Suggested Readings

The Shameless Shebrew – A Song About Body Acceptance

Guest Post: Last week I released a song called “Rocky Mountains” about body acceptance, and I wanted to share some of the backstory. I survived an eating disorder in my early 20s. I’d been to outpatient treatment, and I got better, but something was keeping me from fully recovering. My relationship with food and my body was still fraught for many years.

Downloads

Immersive Experience Staff Journal

We know staff mental health needs are important, and we hope this resource offers an opportunity to better support the staff’s mental health over the summer. The Blue Dove Foundation is proud to partner with BeWell, an initiative of Jewish Federations of North America, and Foundation for Jewish Camp in the creation of this meaningful resource.

Downloads

Summer Camp Staff Journal

Downloads

Passover: Four Cups Toward Freedom – Exploration of Liberation and How to Reclaim the Passover Seder for Ourselves with the T’Shuvah Center

Leaving Egypt is not just about our story and journey on the road to freedom. It is a foundational roadmap to liberation, both for a community and individuals and offers us a story of recovery. Each year, we retell it as a reminder to leave behind constrictions and slavery, and instead choose freedom and sovereignty. Jewish tradition commands us, as we are telling the story, to see ourselves as if we have left Egypt. Egypt is not just a country, an ancient place, or a space. It is not just the setting of the enslavement that we’ve endured. It is also an edict about how we leave Egypt internally.