It has been more than eight months since Hamas attacked Gaza border settlements and Nova Festival goers, and for many the wounds from this traumatic experience are still far from healing. Among them are young people who face great psychological and functional difficulties, making it difficult for them to reintegrate into the labor market.
To prevent these young people from falling into a cycle of dysfunction, dependency and destitution, the Shifa Space in Rishfoun and the Al Nour Youth Association developed a special vocational training program for them. In the first phase, a pilot project was implemented for 14 Nova survivors, who worked in practical programs on the farm, in a comprehensive and supportive environment, while participating in group and individual therapy.
After the success of the pilot project, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Welfare and the National Insurance Institute, an expanded program will begin next month in which 50-100 participants will participate, and will last between two and six months. Depending on their individual needs.
The program will include several components. In the first component, young people will be employed in producing ceramics, candles, and growing medicinal plants in sessions lasting between 3 and 6 hours, 2 to 5 sessions per week. The work, besides providing a source of income, is rehabilitative work, promoting a gradual return to full functioning, according to the participants’ abilities and circumstances.
The second component includes group and individual therapeutic support from qualified therapists in order to process experiences that arise during work and thus deal with daily difficulties. In the third component, participants will participate in a 12-session skills workshop that addresses setting goals, managing an agenda, dealing with successes and failures, persevering in achieving goals, managing time and emotions, and more.
Next, the program team will partner with each participant to build a personalized “get back on track” plan, focused on resuming a routine and optimal performance.
“To rise from the rubble”
“After the traumatic experience and initial survival phase, there comes an intermediate phase where the person who has experienced trauma gradually seeks to resume their routine,” says Dr. Ilana Quartin, CEO of Rishpon Healing Space.
“This is the stage where we aim to integrate vocational training, which is another step in the long journey of growth from trauma, back into the world and to the point where participants were before their lives were taken from them. We make this stage possible for program participants in their journey.”
Youth of Light Operations Director Mali Kanias says that during the pilot period she encountered “difficult and complex stories, but on the other hand we learned about the greatness of the mind and the miraculous abilities to rise from the rubble and rebuild. It is a great honor to participate in the program.”
Rishvon Healing Space is a healing space dedicated to growth from personal and collective trauma. It was established in response to an unprecedented national emergency that highlighted the inaccessibility and limited resources of Israel’s health system in light of the increasing demand for mental health services. Since October 7, Healing Space has received more than 3,500 survivors and their families, 4,800 police officers and soldiers who were on the front lines, 120 bereaved families, and more. The space currently operates approximately 10 different programs, each tailored to diverse populations with specific goals and treatments.
Published by Globes, Israel Business News – en.globes.co.il – on June 23, 2024.
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