September is National Suicide Prevention Month
By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
RED BANK – When beloved star, humanitarian and comedian Robin Williams committed suicide last month, his actions were the topic of conversations in offices, living rooms and, according to Carol Veizer, director and founder of the NJ Center for the Healing Arts, support groups and therapy sessions.
“Because he’s such a public figure, because he did not in any way the fit the stereotype of what people think people who would commit suicide are like,” she explained. “In the perspective of the general public he had everything: wealth, money, brilliance admiration, loved his family – and yet he would do this.”
That is why Veizer and other mental health professionals feel it’s so important for celebrities and public figures – and the rest of us – to discuss and confront destructive feelings and the many myths about what it is that would drive someone to commit suicide. Although we think of the primary reasons are external: marital, work, financial stress, she said, “the truth is a lot of those factors present a dangerous interaction for someone who is already living with severe depression, bipolar disorder or PTSD” (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other diagnoses.”
According to Veizer, the primary reason for suicide is mental illness. Substance abuse adds to depression. “A person can actually love their life and still want to die,” she said.
For many suffering from depression, or those seeking relief and perhaps help in handling life’s challenges, the NJ Center for the Healing Arts offers a place to heal the mind, nurture the spirit and inspire the soul.
The nonprofit center, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, offers a holistic integrative approach to wellness.
–Photo by Scott Longfield
The center combines counseling and psychotherapy with conventional, alternative and complementary medicine. An integrative approach takes into consideration all the factors that influence a person, including genetics, behavior and the environment.
The center at 248 Broad St. sports the accoutrements of home, including client’s artwork and quilts on display, soothing music piped through, and snacks and tea for the taking. “It’s nurturing and inspiring,” Veizer said.
When the center started (under the name the Open Center Foundation), the “model was to bring the community in,” Veizer said. At the time, the center offered yoga classes, workshops and writing and acting groups and events that enabled clients to join with others in the community with shared interests. They tried to offer “everything that would give those who were there suffering from diagnosed conditions to interact with those who were not,” Veizer said, “and that immediately de-stigmatized” the mental-health issue.
The practice remains and now in addition to counseling, the center offers chiropractor and massage therapy services as well as lectures, workshops and retreats.
“Nobody knows why you’re there,” Veizer said. “You may be there to get a massage.”
Along with Veizer and Kyra Becker, assistant director, the staff of 14 includes licensed professional counselors, clinical social workers, art therapists and graduate-level interns.
With a myriad of offerings, including counseling, art, play and sand tray therapies for children and adolescents, topics covered include anger management, clinical hypnosis, pain management and more.
The center is also a National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC)–approved continuing education provider. “We are in a teaching and mentoring role,” Veizer said.
The center attracts clients of all ages, from children through seniors, all of who can find a place of comfort. There are groups for yoga for depression, survivors of childhood abuse as well as individual counseling.
“We do art therapy, expressive art therapy,” Veizer said. “Creativity is such a window into healing mental illness. But, if you don’t use that energy effectively and productively, it burns you up from the inside out and it implodes.”
The center offers various therapies for children. “We have a very competent child team,” Veizer said.
Children may visit because authorities have suspected abuse in the home and then there are children whose parents think the center can ease the angst of growing up.
“Often mental illness is the legacy that is kept in the dark because of stigma,” Veizer said. “Therefore, education is essential. We try whenever possible to involve family in their healing and knowledge base.”
The challenge sometimes is reaching those who may be suffering but may not realize they’re depressed because there seems to be no overt reason to feel that way.
“No one should feel ‘my problems’ are not big enough to go to therapy,” Veizer said.
Another problem she points out is “the medicalization” of mental health. “Once you have a diagnosis, get medication, medication alone is not the most effective,” she said. “Often competent psychotherapy is needed.”
Colleen Pazos of Middletown has visited the center as she goes through the various stages of life.
“I went back for tools to add to my toolbox of life – learning skills as life progressed – as I had more challenges and different challenges.”
Throughout the years she has benefited from massage therapy, retreats and has referred family and friends and brought her children to the center. She sees Veizer as more of a “life coach for me now,” she said. “The center is a great place for me to feel grounded…. enabled me to get back in touch with who I am and what I have to offer.”
Pazos said she sees the center as a resource, a “mélange of things … to anyone who just feels the need to unload.
“To have a person who can objectively listen and maybe help navigate their life and situation. It’s a good-faith place to be.”
