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Each person responds to traumatic situations in different ways. On one hand, the way in which an individual responds to a traumatic event depends on the type of event, its intensity and duration; one the other hand, it is dependent on the individual’s personal history, the amount of social and familial support he has and his natural ability to cope.
“National trauma” is the term that NATAL uses for trauma that occurs to an individual as a result the Israeli-Arab conflict in all of its various manifestations.
Not every unpleasant or even difficult experience is traumatic in the professional sense of the word. A traumatic event is when a person experiences a combination of:
| 1. | A sense of immediate threat to the physical and/or emotional well-being of himself or another. |
| 2. | Flooded by emotions of the helplessness or fear. |
In addition, the influence of the traumatic event is intensified if we were not prepared for it. In most cases, a traumatic event occurs suddenly and unexpectedly.
According to this definition, the traumatic experience does not necessarily have to happen to me.
Correct. If we are observers of the difficult event or even just hear about it – we can still be flooded by feelings of fear and helplessness. This kind of experience can be traumatic for us.
If so, anyone in this country could experience trauma.
Any person, anywhere might encounter or hear about a traumatic event. In Israel, because of the Israeli-Arab conflict, we are more exposed to traumatic events caused by situations of terrorism and war. In other words, in Israel we are more exposed to trauma with a national background.
Contact AFN:
1120 Avenue of the Americas, Fourth Floor, New York, NY 10036
Tel: 646-481-0481
President: Walter H. Weiner Chairman: David Kostman
Secretary: Ariel Recanati Treasurer: Esti Cohen
Board Members:
Darel Manocherian-Benaim
Jeremy Chwat
Linda Frieze
Naomi Kayne
Nina Rosenwald
Adam Weiner
Lior Yahalomi
Toni Young
Advisory Board:
Chair Gol Kalev
Yariv Ben- Ari
Maya Elhalal
Nirit French
Kym Pitlor
Alexandra Pyke
27 students successfully completed the first year of the Trauma Studies Program and received their diplomas from Tel Aviv University and NATAL. The security crisis in the regions surrounding Gaza has significantly deteriorated, with hundreds of rockets slamming into communities as far reaching as Ashdod (30km north of Gaza), leaving all those in the south threatened with this volatile crisis.
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This is the 3rd TD |
| Yossi Hadar was born in Belgium in 1946 to parents who were Holocaust survivors. He and his family sailed for Israel on the ship Theodore Herzl, but were captured by the British and sent to a transit camp in Cyprus. They immigrated to Israel on November 29, 1947. During Israels formative years, Yossi and his family lived in the shacks of the Givat Shmuel transit camp, and later settled in Kiryat Israel. Yossi studied medicine in Hebrew University and joined the army in 1971 where he served as the Golan Heights Regional Physician (which included treating the Druze population). |
During the Yom Kippur War, Yossi, a paramedic and two other soldiers were nearly taken captive by Syrian forces but the group managed to escape at the last moment. Throughout the war Yossi saved lives as he operated on wounded soldiers under combat conditions.
The Yom Kippur War left a deep impression on Yossi and he suffered from symptoms of PTSD as a result. That, compounded with the traumas his family dealt with due to the Holocaust ,influenced Yossi to study psychiatry. He completed an internship at the Shalvata Mental Health Center in Hod Hasharon.
During Operation Peace for Galilee, Yossi served in the reserves and headed the Airborne Medical Unit. Yossi held the Eli Weisel Chair for Holocaust Research at Bar Ilan University and headed the Psychotherapy program there for four years. In addition, he was a playwright, poet and author. Approximately two weeks before the official opening of NATAL in June 1998, Yossi was diagnosed with severe leukemia and passed away.
He did not live to see his vision materialize and grow into an established institution, as he had dreamed. Yossi is survived by his wife and three children.
May his memory be blessed forever.
Judith was born in Tel Aviv in 1951 and was educated at Gymnasia Herzliya. She was an active leader in the community scouts and served as Women’s Corps and Nursing Officer in the Israel Defense Forces. At the end of her military service, she began studying psychology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem but as the result of the Yom Kippur war continued studying archaeology at Tel Aviv University. During the Yom Kippur war, she returned to military service as an officer responsible for hospitalized and injured soldiers. In 1974, she married Israel Yovel and together they have three daughters.
In her 30s, Judith began to study art therapy at Lesley College which gave her the opportunity, to work at the Tel Hashomer Hospital with patients suffering from head and spinal injuries and at Beit Loewenstein with patients suffering from head injuries and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
When she completed the course, she began studying psychotherapy at Bar Ilan University where she met psychiatrist Dr. Yossi Hadar, who was her thesis advisor. Later, he initiated the establishment of NATAL and Judith has served as Chairperson of the association since its establishment. She works full-time on a volunteer basis.