As mental health awareness continues to grow within the Orthodox Jewish community, the availability and quality of services have expanded significantly to meet the increasing demand.

Today, Lakewood and its surrounding areas are home to a wide range of highly skilled professionals and organizations, all committed to supporting individuals facing both simple and complex mental health challenges.

At the same time, this growth has created a new challenge: an overwhelming array of options and a lack of cohesion between the many providers and resources serving the community.

To address this, Dr. Yossi Shafer, Ph.D., founder and director of Empower Health Center, has launched EmpowerEd, a new division built on a clear and focused vision. The initiative is designed to elevate the standard of mental health education through consistent, high level trainings and specialty trainings, while also bringing together all those involved in mental health care under one unified platform.

This includes psychotherapists, psychiatric providers, medical professionals, Rabbanim, organizational leaders, and others who play a role in supporting individuals and families.
The goal is to create a structured, accessible platform for education, collaboration, and ongoing professional development that raises the standard of care and positions therapists as the gold standard in the field.

In collaboration with leading organizations including Ray of Hope, Amudim, Touro College, and MASK, EmpowerEd will be hosting its Spring Mental Health Summit at the Beru Grand in Lakewood on Sunday, May 3.

This summit presents a unique opportunity for professionals to engage with experts across disciplines, participate in high level trainings, and build meaningful connections that enhance their ability to serve the community.

A central focus of the summit is bridging the gap between medical professionals, mental health clinicians, and Rabbanim. By fostering collaboration across these fields, the program aims to strengthen communication, align treatment approaches, and support the development of cohesive plans that address clinical, medical, and halachic considerations in a coordinated manner.

An important component of this initiative is addressing the ongoing educational requirements of mental health professionals. Providers are required to complete 40 CE credits every two years.

EmpowerEd has been intentionally structured as a biannual platform to meet this need through consistent, high quality trainings, eliminating the need for extensive travel and reducing reliance on less professional trainings that do not meet the standard clinicians are seeking.

In addition, efforts are underway to secure continuing education credits for medical doctors and psychiatric providers, further expanding the scope and value of these trainings.

To broaden access even further, these trainings will also be available via Zoom, allowing frum therapists across the United States and internationally to participate. This ensures that the impact of EmpowerEd extends far beyond the local community, creating opportunities for connection, learning, and collaboration on a much larger scale.

The response from the community has been remarkable, with over 200 registrants already and widespread engagement from organizations across Lakewood and beyond.

There is a clear recognition of the need for a structured and consistent system that brings together the many existing resources in a coordinated and efficient way.

The vision of EmpowerEd is to establish a reliable platform for mental health trainings, education, and community awareness, while ensuring that providers are knowledgeable about the many high quality resources available.

Rather than having organizations invest time and resources creating separate initiatives, this model allows for a unified system that maximizes what already exists and strengthens the entire network of care.

In addition, all panel discussions, including the Rabbanim panel, Medical Doctor panel, and other featured panels, will be available free of charge with registration.
Due to limited capacity, this opportunity is open to Rabbanim, mechanchim, medical providers, chosson rebbeim, and kallah teachers, offering access to critical conversations and collaboration across disciplines.

This event represents the formal launch of a biannual structure and platform that will continue to grow and evolve.

Upcoming programming is already scheduled, including a one day summit on Sunday, October 25, as well as additional expanded trainings designed to meet the needs of both novice and advanced clinicians, along with Rabbanim, mechanchim, and community leaders.

Moving forward, these summits will follow a consistent schedule, taking place approximately three weeks after Pesach and three weeks after Succos, creating a predictable and dependable rhythm that professionals can rely on year after year.

This structured timing aligns with key points in the professional calendar, when clinicians are actively building connections, expanding their caseloads, and seeking opportunities for growth.

Early bird registration pricing is available through tomorrow, Sunday, April 26.

We are all thankful to EmpowerEd for establishing a new standard for mental health education and collaboration, one that is organized, accessible, and built to support the evolving needs of the community with clarity, consistency, and of gold standard.

Call / Text / Whatsapp: 732-666-9898

Email: [email protected]