Worrier to Warrior: New Program at Key Biscayne Chabad

Mental health (Adobe)

This fall Rabbi Avremel Caroline of the Chabad Key Biscayne Jewish Center will offer Worrier to Warrior, a new six-session course by the acclaimed Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), to help people deal with life challenges by learning how to reframe their perspective into a more positive one.

Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m., participants in the course will take on life’s challenges by taking a deeper look at the factors that prevent a positive outlook – guilt, shame and fear of inauthenticity – in light of the notion that at the core, everyone is full of positive energy.

“If you ask children why they are always happy, they won’t give you a sophisticated answer. They are naturally full of joy,” Caroline explained. “They are simply happy because they aren’t burdened by the challenges which can interfere with our natural positivity. If we can learn how to correct our perspective on life’s struggles, we are going to uncover a lot of positivity.”

Worrier to Warrior combines positive psychology with Jewish wisdom to explore questions such as: Is there a meaning to life that makes even our difficulties meaningful? Am I just what happens to me or do I have a deeper core? How can I get off the ‘hedonic treadmill,’ the sense that even life’s successes ring hollow?

Worrier to Warrier event details (Courtesy of Avremel Caroline)

“A purposeful life is the key to well-being. We all face challenges in life, whether it’s health-related, at work, socially or with the family,” said Caroline. “How we deal with these issues is vital for our ability to achieve lasting satisfaction in life. By finding meaning in personal troubles – seeing them as opportunities – we learn to accept ourselves, we learn to find the path forward.”

Professor Steven M. Southwick M.D. of the department of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine has endorsed the course: “It is well-known that positive emotions rest at the heart of overall well-being and happiness. But how to effectively enhance positive emotion remains challenging. Worrier to Warrior approaches this challenge from an insightful perspective grounded in contemporary psychology and Jewish literature… this is an exciting and very impressive course unlike any I have seen.”

Worrier to Warrior is accredited in Florida for medical and mental health professionals seeking to fulfil their continuing education requirements (CEU). Like all JLI programs, this course is designed to appeal to people at all levels of knowledge, including those without any prior experience or background in Jewish learning. All JLI courses are open to the public and attendees need not be affiliated with a particular synagogue, temple or another house of worship.

For more course-related information and registration, visit www.chabadkeyb.com/worriertowarrior or call 305-365-6744.