Founded by Marilyn and Larry Cohen in 2002 to educate the public on mental health after losing their daughter Naomi to suicide, the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute is well-positioned to address difficult but important subject matters.
Over the last two decades, the institute has worked to educate and enlighten people about the unique challenges of those living with mental illness and to bring people together in a safe, welcoming environment. Housed on The Chicago School’s Chicago Campus, NRCI’s mission is to overcome the stigma of mental illness through grassroots education in and around Chicago.
In the spring of 2021, NRCI convened its 19th annual conference, which addressed grief, stress, and the COVID-19 crisis.
The centerpiece of this year’s event was a four-person panel of mental health professionals who sought to capture and contextualize the unprecedented stressors that have burdened and challenged mental health providers during the pandemic.
Moderated by Michael Kocet, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Counselor Education Department at The Chicago School’s Chicago Campus, panelists included Serena Wadhwa, Psy.D., psychotherapist and professor at Governors State University; Jillian Blueford, Ph.D., faculty member at the University of Denver and chair of the Grief Competencies Task Force for the American Counseling Association; David Fireman, executive director of the Center for Grief Recovery and Therapeutic Services in Chicago; and Michael Catania, an early COVID-19 sufferer who spent 15 days on a ventilator in March 2020.
Some common themes emerged, including how stress and grief affect different people and populations and the active work that must take place to overcome them. The speakers agreed that although it is human nature to push painful emotions aside, they must be acknowledged for healing to begin and that each individual must find their way through the emotions elicited by the moment.
Despite the fact that the conference was held online, 127 people attended from eight countries.
In June 2021, the Naomi Ruth Cohen Institute also announced its new executive director, Tracy Levine, LCSW. Levine will continue the institute’s mission and will be organizing the 2022 conference with the hope that attendees will be able to convene in person.
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