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NAMI NEW JERSEY programs: samhaj events |
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The Other Side of the Bed: Lessons on Enhancing our Relationships |
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 On a sunny afternoon on Saturday, April 10, a group of South Asians in West Windsor township in New Jersey laughed and sighed their way through an entertaining and informative workshop The Other Side of the Bed, intended to teach them how to communicate better with their spouse. Psychologist Dr. Anita McLean started off by asking audience members how their lives had changed since they immigrated to the US. One woman captured this experience perfectly in her statement - My husband and I like to take a walk after dinner. Here, when we go for a walk and come back, the plates are still on the table! The statement neatly captured the realization that professionals immigrating to the US experience having to suddenly rely upon oneself in all aspects of life.
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 Dr. McLean noted some of the things that led to stress on a couple's relationship lack of social support, loneliness, women acquiring sudden independence. She led audience members through a lively role playing session, where the mood fluctuated between intensity and humor. Anuraag Singh, a young mother of two, played the angry wife confronting a taciturn husband, and Sadia Saleem, a doctoral student at Rutgers University, played the husband retreating from a confrontation. The audience frequently interrupted the role play to make suggestions.
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At the end, the participants suggested that the next workshop focus on raising children in the United States, and how parents could cope with the cultural divide that rises between themselves and their American born children. |
This workshop was the first in a series of three in 2004, sponsored by NAMI NEW JERSEY's SAMHAJ program and the Indian American Civic Forum at the West Windsor township library in New Jersey. They are intended to increase awareness about mental health and well being among South Asian immigrants.
For more information on future workshops contact Aruna Rao at (732) 940-0991 or e-mail naminj@optonline.net . |
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 NAMI NEW JERSEY is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families who are affected by mental illness.
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