New group aims to help with body image issues
If you're feeling pressure to
look a certain way, if you're
unhappy with your weight or
waist size or if you're just generally
feeling unhappy with the
way you look, The Healing Place
can help.
The Healing Place is a new support group on campus that begins on January 9. The weekly meetings will take place on Mondays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in F2010-5. It's an entirely open group, and participation is voluntary — no registration is required. Participants are not required to come every week; they just show up when they want to talk. Everything said in the group is entirely confidential. "It's a safe place where people can share things without worry of being caught in the hallways or centered out," explained Jerilyn Hurwitz, a Registered Social Worker with Fanshawe's Counselling and Accessibility Services and Founder of The Healing Place.
In the past, a local organization called Hope's Garden ran a support group at Fanshawe for people with eating disorders, but they lacked the funding to come back this year. Hurwitz said she decided to create a new group with a new name to try to be more inclusive. "I didn't want to focus just on people who have eating disorders," she said. "It's for anyone who's feeling like they're struggling with what they see in the mirror, or feel like their happiness is based on the number on the scale or the size of their pants, that type of thing."
"I've always been actively involved in eating disorder awareness (and body image issues)," she continued. "I feel very strongly about the media and the impact that it has on young people in terms of pressures that they face."
"I am a social worker and I recently got a degree in women's studies, and that really opened my eyes to a lot of different things in terms of culture, gender and that kind of thing," she said. "There's such a lack of understanding (in the area) that I feel like I want to try to give people a voice and (make the issue) more understood."
For more information about The Healing Place, contact Hurwitz at jhurwitz@fanshawec.ca or by phone at 519-452-4430 ext. 3995.
The Healing Place is a new support group on campus that begins on January 9. The weekly meetings will take place on Mondays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in F2010-5. It's an entirely open group, and participation is voluntary — no registration is required. Participants are not required to come every week; they just show up when they want to talk. Everything said in the group is entirely confidential. "It's a safe place where people can share things without worry of being caught in the hallways or centered out," explained Jerilyn Hurwitz, a Registered Social Worker with Fanshawe's Counselling and Accessibility Services and Founder of The Healing Place.
In the past, a local organization called Hope's Garden ran a support group at Fanshawe for people with eating disorders, but they lacked the funding to come back this year. Hurwitz said she decided to create a new group with a new name to try to be more inclusive. "I didn't want to focus just on people who have eating disorders," she said. "It's for anyone who's feeling like they're struggling with what they see in the mirror, or feel like their happiness is based on the number on the scale or the size of their pants, that type of thing."
"I've always been actively involved in eating disorder awareness (and body image issues)," she continued. "I feel very strongly about the media and the impact that it has on young people in terms of pressures that they face."
"I am a social worker and I recently got a degree in women's studies, and that really opened my eyes to a lot of different things in terms of culture, gender and that kind of thing," she said. "There's such a lack of understanding (in the area) that I feel like I want to try to give people a voice and (make the issue) more understood."
For more information about The Healing Place, contact Hurwitz at jhurwitz@fanshawec.ca or by phone at 519-452-4430 ext. 3995.
