As the director of social work and program planning at Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey, I am writing to share how JFSCNJ is helping to mitigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has been relentless, testing the resiliency of most of us.

To quote a recent article titled, “There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing,” by Adam Grant (The New York Times, April 19, 2021), “Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness.” Grant explains that it’s as if you are “looking at your life through a foggy windshield.” Grant considers languishing to be the “dominant emotion of 2021.”

After months of fear, and loss of what is “normal,” many of us are experiencing the absence of pleasure, a dulling and absence of focus and motivation.

Now, more than ever, we need to be proactive about mental health!

May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

Therapy can help by putting a name to our feelings, identifying triggers to problematic behaviors and mood, improving communication in relationships and preventing things escalating into a mental health crisis.

Our agency offers HIPAA-compliant, virtual, evidenced-based family, individual, child and couples therapy, in addition to a specialization in working with older adults.

Take a look at our website, www.jfscentralnj.org, to view the gamut of services offered at JFSCNJ.

If you or a loved one is in need of our services, contact us at [email protected] or 908-352-8375.

Andrea LoPresti, LCSW, is director of social work and program planning for JFSCNJ.