Steven Stein
Welcome to another edition of Schmooze.
Having just returned from an amazing mission to Israel for psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers I’m gradually getting back into the swing of things. The mission, co-ordinated by the Jewish Federations of Canada was the dream child of three psychologists, Dr. Yifaht Korman, Dr. Cathy Kerzner, and Dr. Anna Baranowsky. While focussed on trauma, we covered so many interesting topics and heard some amazing presentations.
I’ll just highlight a few here. We met with Glen Cohen, former senior psychologist of the Mossad. He personally interviewed over 140 of the returning hostages to Israel. He spoke to us of survival, some of the processes used by those who best made it through the horrendous ordeal, and their readjustment process. He told about the importance of belief in something bigger than yourself, the importance of the control of whatever was possible, emotional intelligence in dealing with captors, and helping other hostages. His own personal story of transitioning from the “iceman” Israeli Air Force pilot to the very feeling and experiencing clinical psychologist was fascinating.
We met with Professor Mooli Lahad, a legend among psychologists in Israel and many abroad. He spoke on Resilience: How theory and practice have evolved since October 7th. Mooli is a national and internationally acclaimed resilience researcher who has led mental health in the north and across the country. He was very engaging and led us through a number of enlightening exercises. Among many accomplishments, he initiated the name change of the “trauma centers” to “resilience centers” throughout Israel. He also talked about his transition from a traditional clinical psychologist to the community interventionist he currently is.
What we hear in the news is so often distorted and removed from reality on the ground. We got to hear from an IDF intelligence officer about what he saw and experienced while in both Gaza and Lebanon. His reports included information taken from Hamas computer systems as well as instructions from the bodies of Hamas terrorists.
We visited the Nova site and heard the testimony of a survivor from the music festival. He led us through the harrowing experiences of the morning of October 7. We sat right where he managed to escape alive while his best friend (among others) was shot and killed. The guilt of surviving under those circumstances continues to haunt him. Reliving the story with visitors is part of his therapy.
We travelled to Sderot, near the border with Gaza. We toured the Resilience Center, learned about the current situation in dealing with trauma, vast waiting lists, and a variety of treatment approaches. We went to the site of what was previously the police station, which had to be destroyed during the attack and is now a memorial.
We had an open conversation among the 26 of us, our guides, and a Muslim Arab Israeli man and an orthodox Jewish woman, all together in the same room. It could of continued for much more time than we had.
There were lighter moments as well to help our group of mental health professionals decompress and bond. We had Yoga by the sea, a painting experience, cooking class with a celebrity chef, sing along evening, and many conversations among us.
There was much more than I can report on here. I do want to mention that I will be part of another similar mission for psychologists in June. It was started by our late beloved friend and colleague Ilene Serlin z’l. The mission was postponed last November due to the attacks on Israel. Ilene succumbed to her cancer shortly afterwards but in her last week she asked me to ensure her mission would carry on. In this newsletter there is more information about the June mission to Israel.
As always, I welcome submissions of brief articles, news, or events you would like to publicize to our membership.
