Women Helping Women.

Women have traditionally been the women in crisis because of separation, major recipients of service from mendivorce, or difficult relationships with tal health practitioners. When the Edimen. The appropriateness of tradi son-Metuchen Community Focus tional counseling or therapeutic ap Team, an outreach unit of professional proaches seemed questionable, social workers, psychologists, nurses, It was thought the women were iso and psychiatrists of the Rutgers Comlated and alone because they were no munity Mental Health Center of the longer part of the life of couples in College of Medicine and Dentistry of suburbia. As women, they had been New Jersey, opened its doors in taught to depend on men, and they November 1974, it quickly became lacked the know-how and the initiative apparent that this tradition would perto handle legal issues and money prob sist and that women would be the lems. They were confronted with hav largest client population. In assessing ing to take care of home repairs, car female clients' needs and developing trouble, and the usual household re appropriate programming in response sponsibilities with minimal financial to them, the clinical coordinator (a resources. Their problems were com woman social worker) with support pounded as they tried to deal with from other professional and nonprotheir own emotional wounds and the fessional women staff members formnormal needs of their children. It was ulated two objectives. Rather than havbelieved that the women could only ing the center limit its modalities to build up their inner strengths by being therapy, attempts would be made to helped to develop and expand their (1) reach out into the community to external supports and resources in the change attitudes and develop new syscommunity. terns and (2) reexamine traditional While this problem was being con diagnosis and treatment within the sidered, the center was contacted by mental health center. leaders of a newly formed chapter of This paper is a description of the dethe National Council of Jewish Women velopment of this program. While writ(NCJW), which was seeking meaning ten by two mental health center social ful community service projects. The workers, it reflects the collective efforts changing role of women was discussed of many dedicated women, including at an NCJW membership meeting, clerical staff, community organizers, with the discussion led by a staff mem students, clients, and community perber of the community focus team, sons. The program is described in two There was a good deal of personal in parts: one dealing with the developterest in the topic, as well as eagerness ment of community self-help proto participate in developing a special grams, the other with the struggle for project for women alone, change within the mental health sysShortly thereafter, the clinical co tem. ordinator called a meeting with staff members of the community focus SELF-HELP PROGRAMS team, NCJW representatives, and cli The community self-help portion of ents who were separated or divorced, the work got its initial impetus from At this meeting it became clear that the large number of women who were women alone, who were confronted reaching out to the center for help— with a variety of crises in their lives, had little energy to organize and plan any activities or programs. On the Miriam Habib MSW, is Clinical Coother hand> NCJW members_mostly ordinator, and Barbara Joslin Land... . A , graf, MSW, is Social Worker, Rutgers bn«ht> educated women who Community Mental Health Center, had chosen t0 stay at home Wlth their College of Medicine and Dentistry of families—were eager to get involved in New Jersey, Metuchen. meaningful work. Because the women at this initial