Sharing Group Has New Facilitator

 

By Kathy Newell 

 

Else Bolotin has kindly volunteered to facilitate the 9:30 AM sharing sessions held at monthly NAMI meetings in Chapel Hill. Else succeeds Lennie and Susan Sellet, who have facilitated  the meetings for several years. Many thanks to the Sellets for their longstanding contributions to NAMI!

 

Mrs. Bolotin emigrated from Holland in 1954. She returned to Holland each year to visit until her mother's death, but still continues to visit family there every other year. She has three children and six grandchildren, all living in the United States.

 

Trained as a psychologist, Mrs. Bolotin received her initial training in Holland and continued her education in the United States, receiving a doctorate in Cincinnati, Ohio. She had a private practice in Washington State at the Belleview Medical Center, retiring in 1997. Else and her husband David decided to settle in Chapel Hill after their retirement because they liked a small community  with a  stimulating intellectual climate, close to a university, medical center, and airport. Else has been a member of NAMI for 3-4 years. She is alsoactive as a volunteer with other organizations, and serves as vice president of the  League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham and Chatham Counties

 

Mrs. Bolotin would like to invite everyone to attend the sharing meetings. She likes groups, and feels that those with similar problems and concerns can learn from each other. She says the role of the facilitator is to keep the conversation going, although she has expressed that the meeting may be helpful even if one does not wish to speak.

 

Sometimes it takes several meetings for someone to feel comfortable speaking about their own circumstances, and they shouldn't feel any pressure in sharing if they don't want to. She invites everyone to come and see what the meetings are like, and urges them to come several times, as each meeting is different. It is likely you may find that you have a lot in common with other individuals in the community who have friends or relatives suffering from mental illness. 

 

 NAMI welcomes and thanks Else Bolotin for volunteering as our new sharing facilitator, and we wish her a rewarding experience in this very valuable service. Thanks Else