The project offers group psychotherapy for emotionally vulnerable women

The creator of the Acorrentadas Jamais (‘Never Chained Again’) project, Neila Andrade, is a writer, a doctoral candidate in psychoanalysis, a specialist in women’s emotional health, and an emotional therapist. In an interview with Coluna da Neuza (‘Neuza’s Column’), she recounts how the project began and its objectives.

“It all started with Dona Lu, my mother. She was a woman with a collective heart. Even without knowing what she was doing, she already welcomed and cared for women; in a practical way, she was already doing that. I remember when I was a child and some woman arrived at our house crying, asking for help, my mother would shout: ‘turn off the stove!’.

“At that moment, we already knew that our bellies would growl, we would take longer to have lunch, because Dona Lu would only let that woman leave when she had a smile on her face, emotionally recovered”.

“One day, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. At that moment, she wanted to fight for her life, but it was already too late. I had a mother who loved taking care of others and herself very much, but there came a point, due to various hardships, that she neglected herself, moving from self-care to self-abandonment, giving up on herself,” Neila explains.

Neila also recounts that the occasion of her mother’s passing is etched in her mind. She says she suffered greatly. “I hit rock bottom, delving into the depths of pain”.

But, being a Christian, she clung to her faith and decided to combine her mother’s story with the pain she was feeling and do something about it. She didn’t want everything to end there.

And so she began to act, creating through the Instituto Neuropsi (‘Neuropsi Institute’) in Rio de Janeiro, where she provides paid services, the Acorrentadas Jamais (‘Never Chained Again’).

Emotional well-being

Neila says that the project’s main objective is to provide these women, who participate in the meetings, with assistance, quality of life, support, and emotional well-being through group psychotherapy. 

The project consists of conversation circles during which a safe space is built, where everyone feels comfortable and encouraged to exchange ideas, pains and joys.

There, they are free to speak; there is no room for criticism, judgment, or advice. They are together for one purpose: to bring into the group what makes them emotionally unwell.

What brings these women to the project?

Women seek help at Acorrentadas Jamais (‘Never Chained Again’) because they are facing some emotional problems, which could be grief, depression, separation, abuse, or domestic violence, issues with children or relationships. They carry pains and sufferings, each with their own stories.

Many housewives dedicated their entire lives to their families, but now their children have grown up, married and moved away from home; husbands have left or passed away, and some of them no longer work. Because of this, they find themselves in loneliness. There are many life stories. In summary, they all arrive in emotional distress.

Methodology

There are 12 monthly meetings that take place wherever there is available space. At the last meeting of the year, a celebration is held.

At this moment, an evaluation occurs, where the participants express how they have benefited from the project. Generally, transformations always happen, and they voluntarily share how they feel with others within the space.

This, in addition to benefiting both the speaker and the listener, ends up leading to the arrival of others in the following year. Neila says it is possible to perceive the evolution that occurs from when they enter at the beginning of the year until the moment of evaluation.

This makes the initiator of the action proud of all of them. Thus, one cycle ends to begin another in the next year.

“The women served come to the project through word of mouth and the Instagram page, where many send messages asking how it works, and I provide guidance. They are divided into three groups”.

“In general, women do not have a space where they can open their hearts safely, where they are heard and seen. The Acorrentadas Jamais (‘Never Chained Again’) brings that”, Neila concludes.

Needs of Acorrentadas Jamais

• You can provide or lend a space periodically or permanently for the group’s conversation circles.
• In-kind donations to cover transportation costs for women to attend meetings and outdoor therapies, as well as to provide snacks, disposable materials, hygiene and cleaning supplies, easels, Pilot pens, and office supplies.

Follow the project on Instagram. For information on how to support, send a DM.