There are currently over one hundred and fifty people serving as mentors for hundreds of recipients under the aegis of Ezer Mizion's Mental Health Division. The mentors are trained for their position and supervised by social workers specializing in the field of mental illness. Each mentor is assigned two or three different people to work with, so as to avoid being locked into one mindset, and to develop broader supportive skills in a variety of frameworks.

The conference was opened by Ms. Shapir, an occupational therapist who serves as the Health Ministry Supervisor of mental health mentors across the country. Ms. Shapir, an expert in the field of social rehabilitation, spoke about "SCIT" - the Social Cognitive Intervention Technique for integrating rehabilitating mentally ill into their social environment.

A fascinating angle in rehabilitation was presented by Mr. Benny Cohen, representative of the "Service by the Served" Program. This innovative project, founded in collaboration with the Joint, trains recovering victims of mental illness to serve as professional supporters of the mentally ill. This brilliant arrangement enables them to help others by drawing on what they themselves experienced. Their strong empathetic capacity encourages the recipient to share his hardships and struggles. At the same time, the arrangement serves as a powerful boost to the mentor's self-image.

An especially poignant segment of the evening was the intimate, emotional talk given by parents of a mentally ill adult daughter, who shared their personal experience. Their daughter, born a healthy, wonderful child, suffered a delayed reaction to her traumatic Gulf War experience.  The parents described their acceptance of their daughter, and their deep-seated pride in her abilities, which they support by encouraging her music, art and travel. At the same time, as comfortable as they are with her condition, there is always an underlying pain that never lets up.

The parents urged the mentors to keep in mind when they "walk into" a family, not to be judgmental, and to acknowledge the anguish that lines every such situation and affects all family members.

The evening concluded with two speakers who focused on the practical angle. A nurse spoke about the importance of maintaining the physical health of the mentally ill. She pointed out that the relatively high mortality rate in this sector is most often not a result of misuse of medications, but because of neglect in seeking medical help when necessary and of poor nutrition.

A representative of "Be'zchut" - an organization dedicated to helping challenged individuals of all types obtain their rights - distributed informative brochures and spoke about the various sources of assistance to which the mentally ill are entitled. Among these areas are salary support, residences in the community, and such. The mentor can be a key figure in directing the families to these resources.

The mentors left the conference revitalized in their purpose and equipped with practical suggestions to assist them in their quest to ease the way for the recipients of their assistance.