Navigating Paths of Healing and Empowerment: Insights from our Behavioral Health Workshop

This past month, HMI volunteers convened to partake in a comprehensive 5-week Behavioral Health Workshop in collaboration with The Malama Collective, an organization offering training to aspiring psychoanalysts and providing psychotherapy services to underserved communities in Orange County. With the goal of cultivating resilience in refugee and migrant communities, our instructors guided participants in adopting new, healthy approaches to improving general well-being, stress-management, and relationship-building. Newcomers were given a platform to connect and share their experiences in a safe and inclusive environment whilst learning from each other’s stories and empowering one another. This could not be done without the generous support of the Islamic Center of Riverside, for whom we are endlessly grateful. As the hosts of our workshop, the ICR welcomed us into their facilities with open arms, creating an atmosphere of trust and familiarity that fostered a compassionate dialogue. 

In 5 weeks time, this workshop facilitated tremendous growth in the participating women. Their determination in showing up and continuing to invest in their mental health by taking the difficult strides towards growth and holistic well-being is highly commendable. Our workshop leader, Maryam Obeyd Slater, served as a pillar of strength, sharing her own mother’s journey of refugeehood as a way to relate empathically. Though language was limited at times, our Academic Coordinator Friba Dawar frequently stepped in, bridging the gap between Maryam, the volunteers running the workshop, and the women attending the event, to enhance trust and facilitate a greater degree of understanding. Amongst a larger group of Dari speakers, one Pashto speaker stood out in terms of her initial difficulty dealing with the language barrier. Yet, the group quickly made her feel welcome and lauded her strength in the face of adversity. This judgment-free zone is a testament to the intimacy forged for participants to absorb different perspectives and learn from each other.

Guided by these tenets of compassion, the women were encouraged to cry, laugh, and experience all emotions during the workshops, learning to see it as a sign of strength as opposed to a weakness. Having faced the many traumas associated with forced migration, these women have built up a resilience to persevere and move forward.

Many of them opened up, sharing their experiences and expressing their emotions with the group. With the help of Holly Han, the coordinator for The Malama Collective, the women communicated their wants and needs for the future, identifying areas of actionable change. Many of the women noted the desire to expand their self-esteem and increase their use of hands-on strategies to ground themselves in times of stress. Through this open dialogue, participants were introduced to new possibilities for enhancing their physical and psychological well-being. Thanks to the compassionate community we were able to cultivate, our participants felt safe to confide in us and each other. The secure setting enabled us to overcome barriers to talk about subjects that are often taboo in the mosque. 

Moving forward, in order to continue this progress, we recognize a pressing need for more professional helpers. We urge those who are licensed therapists to join our effort and volunteer in our group settings. With your help, we may be able to run many more invaluable workshops and strengthen our deliverance of psychosocial support!