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Englewood Psychologist Runs To Destigmatize Mental Illness

ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- An Englewood psychologist recently completed the Miami half marathon that she ran to bring attention to the stigma of mental illness.

Dr. Tamar Z. Kahane

Dr. Tamar Z. Kahane

Photo Credit: Dr. Tamar Z. Kahane

Dr. Tamar Kahane trained with her husband, Dov Kahane, and together raised $5,000 for Bring Change 2 Mind, an organization dedicated to normalizing mental illness.

“Now that I’ve run a half marathon, everyone says I must consider myself a runner," she said. 

Kahane has practiced in Englewood, at the Kahane Center, for nine years — and for 10 years in Teaneck before that.

The idea began with a patient who said “I can’t.”

“She was a 17-year old girl, and I was thinking of ways to help her," the doctor said. "I thought what I would say ‘I can’t’ about, and one of those was running. So I decided I would start, and I would do a little, and then a little more.”

She started running last June and July, and in September began training with her husband.

He ran with her in the half marathon, staying at her pace.

“If I was going to run, I was going to do it for something I was passionate about,” Kahane said. “I am passionate about mental health, and the stigma connected to mental illness.”

Kahane says that often people who struggle with emotional illness get penalized and disciplined for their emotional struggles, rather than helped. They frequently live in isolation with a great deal of pain, intensified by the stigma attached to their struggles.

The run was a way for Kahane to gain insight into herself.

“If I can run, anyone can,” she said.

CLICK HERE to reach Bring Change 2 Mind. 

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