Support Puerto Rico's Emotional Coping of COVID19

“My greatest gain in this CODAMO cycle has been to be able to identify how my body talks to me, acknowledge how I feel physically and emotionally, and I acquired tools to deal with different issues in my daily life.”

“In the CODAMO program for women I learned that taking time for myself is important, that it is not an option, but a right.”

This is what two of the women who finished the CODAMO (Counseling and Dance Movement Therapy) cycle of workshops say about their experience.  Thanks to the donations we have received through the GlobalGiving platform, we were able to provide a series of virtual workshops for women during this semester. After working, learning, and seeing each other through the computer for several months, it was a moving experience to get to see each other in person during the last meeting. 

Ranging in ages from mid thirties to the sixties, these courageous women learned how to listen to the messages that their bodies and their minds give them, and how they can improve their self-esteem, manage stressful situations in their lives, and improve their mental and physical health. 

We are already planning the next CODAMO cycle for this coming semester and will be in touch with you to tell you all about it. 

As we have shared with you before, the COVID-19 Pandemic have not stopped us.  If anything, we have been creative in our outreach efforts to bring our services to everyone.  By using digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Zoom, we can reach a wider audience than the one who can come to our center.  In January 2021 we started opening our offices to receive participants from the Mejor Vida program, for counseling and psychological therapy.  We have been following the COVID-19 safety measures necessary to guarantee the well-being of everyone.  For those who cannot come to a    person-to-person appointment, we still schedule phone or Zoom meetings. 

On February, our program CODAMO launched “Talleres Estima”, a series of workshops for women to work on self-esteem.  Four workshops, one weekly, on the subjects of: who am I, communication and emotional intelligence, anxiety and stress management, healing of emotional wounds. We had a wonderful group of women of a wide range of agers participating in the workshops.  Several of these women realized their need for prolonged therapy services and were referred to our Mejor Vida program for counseling and psychological therapy.

March is the month of Creative Artistic Therapies and in Casa sin Fronteras we celebrate big.  During the past few years, we successfully had one day of different Creative Artistic Therapies workshops for the whole family at our center.  This year, because of the pandemic, we could not have an on site gathering of hundreds of people, so we opted for a whole month of 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. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a worldwide tragedy in many aspects, but our spirit is resilient, and we look forward to keep motivating and helping others to a better life.

Links:

• Casa sin Fronteras Facebook Page