`Meaningful Living’ group for ‘young old’ launches on November 4

If you are an Oak Park or River Forest resident, 55 years of age or older, and are looking for support amid one or more life transitions, then a new online wellness group may be a great fit.

Designed to “promote meaningful living into old age” as people share and connect with others, the free eight-week group is entirely on Zoom and begins Wednesday, November 4th.

Each meeting is from 6 to 7:30 p.m., and the final session is Wednesday, December 23rd. Attendance is free of charge, and participants can attend as many of those sessions as they like but are strongly encouraged to attend each week. Initiated by graduate students at Concordia University Chicago in River Forest, “Meaningful Living” has had two prior sessions in person, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Brenda Ross, an Assistant Professor of Human Services at Concordia who oversees the program, said former group members “have really appreciated the opportunity to share their own life learning with others.”

“They have also been reminded of how their lives continue to be meaningful in so many ways, and they have learned some new skills,” Ross added.

Alicia Thomas, a licensed mental health therapist and co-facilitator for the group, was part of an original three-person group of graduate students in the school’s graduate Clinical Mental Health Counseling program who conceived the program. Another student from that group, Sheina Dixon, is also a licensed mental health therapist and co-facilitator.

The idea sprang, in part, from Thomas’ experience nearly a decade ago, when she was going through two major transitions: her mother was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer just as Thomas, who is now 65, was retiring from Kraft Foods as a Senior Director of Research and Development where she spent 36 years of her career.

“There was a lot of focus on my mom and how she was doing through it all, and that’s so important,” Thomas recalled. “But there was no focus on me, or any of the survivors.”

“I saw there is precious little programming for a very critical population,” Thomas continued. “The ‘young old’ to older adults in the 55- to 80-year age group are forgotten about too much, even though they experience the most amount of change, with its impact on mental health.”

Dixon, a young adult less than half Thomas’ age, “brings a different perspective” that is invaluable to the group, said Thomas. Other key partners in the effort are the Oak Park Community Mental Health Board, Oak Park Township, and River Forest Township.

“This is a great collaboration between the Townships and Concordia University, specifically the counseling center,” said River Forest Township Supervisor Carla Sloan. “It provides a practicum for the grad students in counseling. It also provides free mental wellness counseling for seniors age 55-plus. This is a group with unique mental wellness needs that are not often met.”

During the meetings, while employing hands-on activities and group projects, the facilitators help participants reflect on their behaviors and thought patterns, re-assess how they interact with others, and think more deeply about their life’s purpose, said Thomas.

Men and women in this segment of the community are “bombarded” with change, noted Thomas, such as loss of employment, loss of loved ones to death, loss of friendships due to moving from one location to another, empty-nesting with children all grown and out of the house, and loss of physical mobility, often due to health issues.

In 2018, Concordia undergraduate students built on the practicum that Thomas and her classmates formed, with elder community members coming in once a week to meet in person. These sessions will all be done virtually, through the Zoom platform, as a precaution during the coronavirus pandemic. We are in an era “that sprinkles another layer of complexity on these issues,” Thomas observed.

Seniors are one of the Townships’ primary areas of service and older adults “are increasingly isolated during this time” of the pandemic, Sloan said.

“The Meaningful Living series offers some structured connectedness with other seniors and with professionals,” Sloan said. “It’s an enjoyable, low-key way to get support that would otherwise go unmet.”

Participation in the “Meaningful Living” sessions is free of charge but is limited to 12 people; to reserve your spot, please contact co-facilitator Alicia Thomas at (312) 869-2226.