Empower mental/emotional wellbeing in Puerto Rico

One of the side effects of the Covid-19 pandemic is the fragile state of mental health in the general population. The increasing need for assistance motivates us to work harder to bring our services to the community.  As part of the of the outreach, we have been working in several elementary schools with workshops for the students on the topic of emotions management. Since the students are still on virtual mode because of the pandemic safety measures, we have been able to connect with them using digital platforms. Children from 9 to 12 years have been talking about their feelings and learning positive strategies to deal with different emotions, many of which are new for them and arise from the experiences they are living in this new reality of being lockdown in their homes. 

Another group we were able to reach is college students.  We have been working with a group of students from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus with workshops on stress management.  It has been a different experience from working with school children, but equally as rewarding.

For the first time since the program CODAMO started several years ago, we could not gather the participants in person.  The therapist and counselor made some changes in the therapy sessions and were able to organize a group of 13 women between the ages of 30 and 50 and they meet weekly via Zoom platform for their Dance Movement Therapy group sessions and then for individual meetings with the counselor.  As we have been able to take the safety health measures in our offices, the counselor and the psychologist have been meeting in person with some participants that can get there.  As part of the program, they benefit from those three services: Dance Movement Therapy group sessions, individual counseling services, and psychological services for those who need it.  This is a very comprehensive program.  The counseling and psychological services are also available to all people who do not participate in CODAMO.  Some of the situations that have come to surface during therapy are anxiety, stress, difficulties in couple relationships, the emotional impact of the pandemic, the insecurities, and fears that it provokes, and the need for personal quality time to rewind.

Dance Movement Therapy is part of the new artistic creative therapies that work with the human being.  As March is the month of Creative Artistic Therapies, in Casa sin Fronteras we celebrate big.  For the whole month we held online workshops and seminars.  Each week of the month is dedicated to one type of a Creative Artistic Therapy: March 1-5 Art Therapy, March 8-12 Music Therapy, March 12-19 Dance-Movement Therapy, March 22-24 Psychodrama Therapy.  We have also had the honor of hosting three international panels of therapists on Dance-Movement, Art, and Music.  This is groundbreaking and we are excited on future alliances and projects that may come after this.  Since all the workshops and seminars are online, we have been able to have participants from different parts of the island and people who otherwise may have not been able to come to our center.  Also, we have had participants from other countries, as well.

As more people get vaccinated, and the curve of Covid-19 gets down, we are hopeful that for the next semester we will be able to start our services fully in person, always giving the option of virtual for those who are farther away.  We are always grateful for your support to our programs that bring much hope and light in the lives of so many people.

Against all odds and difficulties due to the pandemic lockdown, Casa sin Fronteras have been serving the community.  Using social media, digital platforms, and via telephone calls, our team of Psychologist, Counselor, and Dance Movement Therapist have been able to engage our participants in different activities and therapy sessions.  In October families with children participated in the Zoom workshops: creative discipline, effective communication strategies, art & movement fun, using music for family get togethers.  In November Puerto Rico celebrated general government elections and usually this causes a lot of stress for people, so our team promoted some self-care strategies to deal better during this time.  Other workshops offered to the community were: conscious movement for better understanding ourselves, how families can use play as a tool to deal with crisis, self-love for women.   Also, in November we opened our office again to receive participants of the Mejor Vida program, for psychological and counseling services.  We adopted all the essential sanitary measures recommended by the US CDC for workplaces: taking temperature, hand sanitizing, observing space capacity for quantity of people in areas, social distancing, and mask required.  Even though we have been offering counseling and therapy using the phone and digital platforms, now we can also offer the alternative of person-to-person therapy sessions.  For many people this can make a big difference. On December, the Women Procurement Office of the Puerto Rico government, included our program CODAMO, Counseling & Dance Movement Therapy, in their newsletter as a resource for all women, specially those who suffer abuse.  This is a great milestone for our organization, and hopefully will increase our outreach.  We are grateful for all we accomplished in 2020 thanks to your support, regardless of all difficulties, and look forward to 2021 with hope and renewed strength.