Resource Type: Downloads

Combating Compassion Fatigue – the Jewish Answer to “What’s Next?”

Closely following the holiday of Tisha B'Av, we observe Tu B’Av – the day we traditionally celebrate love, marriage and the continuation of life. This pairing of suffering with recovery and resilience is crucial to the survival of the Jewish people, and this cycle can teach us much about how we can cope and persevere in our own lives today. It can also be an opportunity to explore how we can cope and persevere and take care of ourselves when supporting the people we celebrate on Tu B'Av becomes too much for us.
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Jewish Mantras: How to Change Your Brain

How can we change our mood when we’re in a funk? This resource will describe brief exercises to improve your mood now as well as retrain your brain to help you be more positive overall. It is important to verbalize and analyze our emotions. Feelings help us gather information about ourselves— how we are experiencing the world and what we need in order to feel better. But if unwanted thoughts and unsettling feelings start to consume us, how do we focus on joyful concepts instead of those that circulate anxiety and depression? We must retrain our brain to cultivate our own happiness and strength, recognizing we are not defined by our emotions; in fact, we are the boss of them.
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Mental Health College Toolkit

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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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