I want

Social Mentorship

Shira Bigon, social worker and senior division manager, education, culture and leisure, Ministry of Health
3 September 2025

Many individuals who experience mental health challenges can experience mental symptoms that can impact their interactions and can face difficulties in maintaining social connections. The social mentorship service can provide support for individuals experiencing the following challenges, including:

  • Loneliness and social challenges.
  • Difficulty in maintaining independence.
  • Social anxiety.
  • Low self-esteem impacting daily performance.
  • The impact of medications on cognitive and physical performance.

For whom is the social mentorship service designed

For individuals residing in the community who are eligible for the rehabilitation basket and need personal support, to assist them in developing social and interpersonal skills, enhancing their quality of life and their self-esteem.

Social mentorship can help in the following areas:

  • Acquiring practical skills for performing daily activities.
  • Acquiring social skills and developing social connections and intimate relationships.
  • Learning digital skills and becoming familiar with social media.
  • Enriching leisure time in areas that suit the individual with mental health challenges.
  • Expanding social circles, providing support in building, and maintaining social connections.
  • Realizing rights and entitlements in relevant support systems in the community.
  • Support in facing challenges in various life areas.

A mentor can be any person over 21 years of age, with or without a professional background in mental health, who has goof acquaintance with the mental health system and the rehabilitation framework. The mentor receives professional training and development.

Frequency of sessions with the mentor

The sessions take place once or twice a week, totaling three hours per week.

Matching the mentor to the recovering individual

The professional coordinator on behalf of the service provider matches the mentor with the recovering individual. Additionally, the coordinator develops the rehabilitation program and determines the rehabilitation goals. If needed, requests for mentors from the Haredi or Arabic sectors will be considered, and if the provider is able to fulfill the request, it will be granted.

Social mentorship services are part of a rehabilitation program for individuals experiencing mental health challenges who live in the community and not within the housing system frameworks but are unable to manage on their own and therefore require support in different areas. If you meet this description, a mentor will be assigned to you as part of this service. The role of the social mentor is to provide support in your everyday life in the community to help you maintain a normal life and improve your quality of life. This service is tailored to provide you with support according to your personal needs and aims to help you develop various skills. This article explores the social challenges addressed by this service and explains how it can be achieved. We recommend you read our article on the importance of social connections to build social resilience.

Social challenges of individuals experiencing mental health challenges

Individuals experiencing mental health challenges and diagnosed at a young age often experience loneliness because they become socially isolated from their peers. Sometimes, this isolation is due to hospital stays, and sometimes it is caused by difficulties that lead to their withdrawal from other children. As a result, they can reach puberty with limited social interactions and basic social skills.

Later in life, and at any age, individuals experiencing mental health challenges face social stigma. This stigma makes them feel rejection, misunderstanding, and even social discrimination. These experiences can contribute to loneliness, fear of establishing and maintaining social links, and the destruction of self-esteem. In the end, this can lead to feelings of social isolation and a lack of faith in their ability to participate in society.

Individuals experiencing mental health challenges face several obstacles that can cause symptoms that limit their ability to be completely independent. These challenges can manifest themselves in various ways, for example, during a random encounter with a friend in the street or at a social meeting. They can experience a range of symptoms, including rapid heart rate, cold sweat, shaking, difficulty breathing, uncontrollable negative thoughts, stuttering or difficulty speaking, difficulty maintaining eye contact, etc. These symptoms can lead to feelings of embarrassment, shame, or fear of social stigma.

Many individuals experiencing mental health challenges completely avoid social life because they are facing serious anxiety. Their anxiety is so severe that, the minute they leave the door, they begin to experience physical and mental symptoms of anxiety, such as a rapid heart rate, cold sweating, a feeling of suffocation, a feeling of dizziness, a disconnection from reality, fear or panic, a feeling of nausea, confusion and loss of direction, a sense of inner unease, and so on.

This can cause side effects that affect cognitive function, including memory, concentration, time management, or decision-making. It can also affect the physical aspects, including fatigue or mood swings. All of these can hinder their ability to face daily life tasks and maintain stable social connections.

For whom the social mentorship service is designed

This service is designed for individuals who are facing mental health challenges and are taking their first steps in their rehabilitation process and for anyone who feels lonely or unsatisfied with their social life and wants to improve it.

It is important to note

It is important to note

The service is also available to individuals in the Haredi and Arabic sectors and is adapted to them. It is essential to directly ask the service provider whether they offer services adapted to your sector.

How can mentorship assist your social functioning

  • Learning and practicing various skills
  • Recovery support
  • Encouraging education and employment
  • Assistance in exercising rights
  • Expanding the social circle
  • Learning and practicing various skills, such as communication skills: If you find it difficult to initiate conversations with new friends, the mentor will teach you, step by step, how to initiate a conversation, how to maintain eye contact, and how to listen to the person speaking. The mentor will practice social situations with you through role-playing exercises.
  • Emotion management: The mentor will help you in managing emotions that cause you distress in social situations and everyday life. For instance, if you experience anger issues, the mentor will teach you anger management techniques, such as deep breaths, meditation, etc. With the mentor you will be able to practice these techniques and develop the ability to recognize early signs of escalation, enabling you to address challenges in real time.
  • Solving conflicts with family and friends: If you have an ongoing conflict with one of your parents because of choices you have made that they did not like, the mentor will teach you how to conduct a constructive conversation, understand your parents’ point of view, and reach mutual agreement through open, empathetic communication and mutual respect.
  • Managing social situations: If you experience social anxiety, the mentor will teach you gradually and sensitively how to manage various social situations. Together you will practice activities like introducing yourself to new people. The mentor will help you find social groups that interest you and will help you practice conducting light conversations with friends in a group.
  • Practicing handling personal matters: If you find it difficult to manage your daily tasks, for example, manage your finances, the mentor can help you in preparing a personal budget, teach you how to track your spending and savings in the bank, and save money for future goals. The mentor will teach you how to use digital tools for managing your budget and help you plan how to avoid redundant expenses.
  • Supporting your recovery process: The mentor can guide you on how to conduct a conversation with your physician, help you take responsibility for your drug therapy, and support your personal recovery process.
  • Expending your social circle through participation in community leisure activities: If you are feeling lonely and believe that community social activities can help, the mentor can encourage you to explore all the possibilities in this area. For example, participate in social clubs in your vicinity, join groups online that interest you, participate in social events conducted by various organizations, and volunteer in community projects to meet new people.
  • Supporting your educational and employment goals: If you have educational aspirations or wish to study but feel uncertain about how to do it, and if you also fear the process, your mentor is here for you. They will support and guide you and refer you to a study counselor. The mentor will help you find the appropriate courses, prepare you for admission interviews, and help you rehearse for them. The mentor will also help you manage your time for both work and studies.
  • Assistance in claiming rights from various community organizations: The mentor will help you identify your rights and claim them, teach you to fill out application forms, and sometimes accompany you to meet with representatives of various organizations.
  • Enrichment of leisure time and encouragement to participate in volunteering activities: If you have free time and are looking for ways to spend it meaningfully, for example, through volunteer activity that gives you a sense of purpose, the mentor will help you raise some ideas for such activities. Based on your personal interests, the mentor can suggest some possibilities that can make you feel fulfilled. For example, volunteering with animals. Accordingly, the mentor can help you find a place to volunteer based on your choice.
  • Acquaintance with social networks: The mentor can help you understand how to safely navigate through social networks and how they can contribute to your social life.
  • Supporting personal process related to relationships: The mentor can help you explore options for meeting a partner and guide you on how to build and maintain healthy relationships.

The meeting frequency and length of mentorship

In the first phase, following your admission to the program, you and your mentor will have a 3-month trial period. The mentor visits once or twice a week, for a total of 3 hours a week. The service professional coordinator matches you with an appropriate mentor, and develops a rehabilitation program based on the rehabilitation goals. If necessary, some of these hours can be allocated to special activities.

Length of social mentorship

At the beginning of the mentoring service, a 3-month trial period will be conducted to assess the compatibility between the recovering individual and their mentor. If the compatibility is not adequate, it is possible to change mentors or re-evaluate the rehabilitation plan. Social mentorship Typically lasts between one and two years on average, depending on your function and needs. If you need to extend your period of mentorship, you can contact the Rehabilitation Committee through your support team to apply for a special approval for mentorship extension.

Please note: It is possible to receive up to 3 years (in total) of social mentorship.

 Virtual mentorship

In addition to the face-to-face mentorship, a temporary virtual mentorship option is available. If you have concerns about starting a rehabilitation program or find it difficult to attend face-to-face meetings, you can receive a virtual service of up to three hours a week. During the virtual program, the mentorship coordinator will conduct a professional admission and develop an appropriate rehabilitation program with a mentor. The virtual meetings will provide an opportunity to consider your everyday schedule, to determine regular psychiatric monitoring, to expand the rehabilitation program to leisure frameworks, computers, unique application learning, etc. If you require continuing the virtual service beyond three months, you will need to obtain special approval from the District Coordinator.

Integration into social groups

As part of the rehabilitation program, every participant in the social mentorship service can integrate into group meetings conducted once a week for an hour for improving and practicing their social skills. These groups are designed to allow you to be part of a group, to meet new friends, and to practice social skills in a group framework. This group participation can also strengthen your self-esteem in social situations and improve your ability to interact with others.

Every program consists of 15 to 20 meetings, with 12 to 15 participants in each group.

Please note: One-time participation in a group is allowed during the service period.

Who is the social mentor

  • Age, character, and life experience: The mentor must be at least 21 years old. They must demonstrate emotional maturity and possess a rich life experience to provide emotional support to individuals undergoing rehabilitation during crisis situations. The mentor must be able to cope with the complexities of working with this population, providing ongoing support according to their needs. The mentor must possess a positive approach, demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, and be able to work closely with a multi-professional team.
  • Cultural and linguistic matching: The mentor should be culturally and linguistically matched to the needs of the recovering individual, requiring high communication and social skills.
  • Lack of family involvement: To ensure professional neutrality, the mentor cannot be a family member of the recovering individual.
  • Commitment: The mentor commits to undergoing training to learn how the community rehabilitation system operates and to guide the recovering individual in utilizing it.

Worth noting

Worth noting

Every mentor undergoes professional training, including both individual and group sessions, in the areas of mental health recovery and rehabilitation. These trainings are designed to ensure they possess the knowledge and the support to fulfill their role. They also equip mentors with tools for emotional support to optimally manage crisis situations and understand the requirements of the recovering individuals.

How to obtain social mentorship

If you already have a rehabilitation basket

If you already have an approved rehabilitation basket but are not eligible for mentoring services, you can contact the person or organization helping you with your other services.

This person or organization will refer you to the District Rehabilitation Basket Committee for a review of your match to the service. Following the committee’s decision, you will receive the list of service providers in your area.

If you do not have a rehabilitation service

If you have not submitted an application for a rehabilitation basket, it is advisable to read about how to submit such an application.

In the service application form, you must indicate your need for social mentorship services. After submitting the forms to the Rehabilitation Basket Committee, it is recommended that you resubmit the application, explaining your need and emphasizing your eligibility for social mentorship services.

The committee will review your eligibility for the different services of the rehabilitation basket, including social mentorship services. If your eligibility is approved, the Rehabilitation Basket Committee will provide you with the contact information of the professional coordinators who provide the service in your area.

Termination of service

If you no longer need the service or you wish to discontinue it, you may terminate the arrangement.

If your medical condition necessitates a long hospitalization of at least three months, you will be required to discontinue the service after the third month of hospitalization. You will be eligible for its renewal two weeks before your hospital discharge.

In some cases, if the mentor chooses to leave the program, or if the professional coordinator determines that there is not an adequate match between the mentor and you, the coordinator is responsible for finding you a suitable replacement mentor.

 

Frequently asked questions

Matching you to a mentor is usually based on your rehabilitation and personal needs. However, the professional coordinator will also consider mutual areas of interest and will strive to find a mentor who shares similar interests, whenever possible. Therefore, if you have any special interests that are important to you, you should specify them during the conversation with the service professional coordinator. It is important to clearly communicate your needs and wishes to ensure you receive the most appropriate support.

The mentoring process is designed to be adapted to suit your needs, considering factors such as atmosphere and the personal connection between the two of you. If you are experiencing difficulties with your mentor, you should discuss it with the professional coordinator. You may be able to find ways to make the meetings more suitable to your expectations. If, after another attempt to address the issue, you still feel uncomfortable, you can request to replace your mentor with someone who is a better fit for you.

It is advisable to plan the meetings ahead by selecting clearly defined goals and conversation topics. However, it is advisable to maintain flexibility and openness to a natural flow of conversation. It is recommended to prepare a short list of topics that you find important and conduct a follow-up of your progress at each meeting. Additionally, it is essential to share your feelings about the sessions with your mentor to help improve the process for future sessions.

Essentially, session hours are primarily for supporting you. However, in some situations, mentors may also be available outside of your scheduled hours. It is advisable to discuss this with your mentor to see if you can reach them through messages or short calls when needed. This is an issue worth raising from the start to set clear expectations.

Your mentor can help you participate in group activities, such as support groups, classes, or community events. Your mentor can accompany you, offer support, and help you feel comfortable with new people. This can be the first step toward expanding your social circle.

If this is more appropriate and comfortable, you can ask it at your initial conversation with the professional coordinator or the service provider. The coordinator or the service provider will do their utmost to find you a mentor with whom you can feel comfortable and help you be more open and establish a real connection with your mentor.

The mentor can help you find suitable directions, plan ahead your integration into work or studies, and help you prepare for processes such as CV writing or interviewing. Furthermore, the mentor can help you manage your time so that you can effectively combine work, study, and personal life.

At the beginning of the process, you can establish rehabilitation goals with your mentor and professional coordinator. Over time, you can track your progress towards these goals and monitor your improvement rate. This can include periodical discussions with the mentor, personal experience review, and even feedback on successes and challenges. If you feel that your progress is not adequate, your mentor and coordinator can always adjust the program to your changing needs.

If you would like to involve friends in your mentoring program, you can talk with your mentor and see how to incorporate them into your program. An activity with friends can be a wonderful way to strengthen existing connections, increase social comfort, and build new relationships based on the existing ones. This may consist of mutual meetings, going on leisure activities, or even participating in social events together.ש

Rehabilitation Basket Services

Housing

Education

Assistance Acquiring Basic Equipment for Living

Dental Treatment for People in Recovery

Leisure time

Mentoring

Household Help

Treatment Coordination