Community Magazine February 2021

SHEVAT - ADAR 5781 / FEBRUARY 2021 41 Mozelle loved working with students. She was strongly influenced by Dr. Haim Ginott (1922-1973), who was a highly respected teacher, child psychologist, psychotherapist, and parent educator. He taught parents how to use a language of compassion and understanding and he believed that both parents and teachers should lead and inspire by example. “Treat a child as though he already is the person he’s capable of becoming,” he wrote in his best-selling book Between Parent and Child. PRIVATE PRACTICE AS A RELATIONSHIP THERAPIST While she was at Ilan High School, Mozelle started to build her private practice and pursued her training as a relationship therapist. The Imago Relationship Theory really spoke to Mozelle. Imago, developed by Dr. Harville Hendrix and Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt, is a form of relationship and couples therapy that focuses on transforming conflict into healing and on growth through relational connection. “We are all trying to heal and grow. We do that in relationships, and in marriage you are going to find someone who is going to challenge you to be better than you are. The challenges can be painful but are also a sign of growth.” Mozelle was mentored in Imago by Hedy Schleifer, an internationally known master relationship builder. Mozelle refers to individual and couples therapy as “relationship counseling.” “I believe if we lived in a bubble, by ourselves, we would have no issues; it’s only in relationships that we get triggered, and that’s when we are tested in how well we are doing and how well we can interact. I ask a client: 'What is it that you are doing or not doing that is impacting your relationship?' “Individually, we each bring something to a third entity, the marriage, which becomes the client. I encourage couples to learn to communicate what they need rather than blaming each other for what is wrong. Observing ‘what happens to our marriage when I do A and you do B, and what can we do to make that different?’ is the ultimate focus of my work with couples.” Mozelle has become a sought-after speaker for many of our community’s institutions. She has developed parenting and marital workshops for SBH, communication workshops for Hillel Yeshiva, and teacher training workshops for many schools. MOZELLE’S CREATIVE SIDE In addition to relationship therapy, Mozelle’s passions include writing and art. Mozelle always enjoyed expressing herself through words and loved writing as a graduate student. When her children were little, Mozelle was asked to create a poem to be used in a Mother’s Day card that was sold to raise funds for Magen David Yeshivah and she published a weekly newsletter at Ilan High School. Mozelle is a contributing writer for CommunityMagazine and for several years she authoredamonthly column called “HealthyHomelife.” Her goal was to raise awareness and provide tools for building healthy marriages and relationships. Mozelle was honored to write an article for Community Magazine about the13 th SiyumHaShas, aglobal celebrationof thedaily DafYomiTalmudstudyprogram. Ayearago,Mozellegaveupwritingthe “Healthy Homelife” column to pursue her current passion of painting with pastels. Mozelle began to paint with pastels as a hobby and discovered that she loved it! She joined a pastel society and submitted her paintings to competitions. Mozelle won the top award at the Waltuch Gallery in Tenafly. The prize was to have her own solo show where she sold several of her paintings. “It was so thrilling that this hobby parlayed into something wonderful, a new career.” (Check out Mozelle’s paintings on her website , http:// mozelleformanfineart.com / ) THE COVID-19 PIVOT Mozelle continued to exhibit her paintings at other galleries and then COVID-19 hit. Although her planned shows were cancelled, she still paints almost daily in her dedicated studio and she shares her work on Instagram. “Painting has kept me sane during the pandemic and I find it very gratifying and soothing to create and share my works.” In response to the uptick in anxiety that the pandemic has generated, Mozelle developed a four-part workshop at SBH to address community members’ anxieties. She has also provided grief counseling and other support services to her clients and to the community. To relax, Mozelle loves to read historical fiction, mysteries, and detective stories and she enjoys yoga and Pilates. You can connect with Mozelle by email at mozelleforman@ gmail.com or on Instagram @mozelle.forman. EllenGellerKamaras,CPA/MBA, isan InternationalCoachFederation(ICF)AssociateCertified Coach. Hercoachingspecialties include life,career,anddatingcoaching. Shecanbecontactedat ellen@lifecoachellen.com ( www.lifecoachellen.com) .