Prof. Rivka Tovel Mashiach from the Department of Psychology at Bar Ilan University will present to a committee at the United Nations models developed in Israel for treating the trauma of victims of terrorism
""Unfortunately, Israel has become a 'light to the Gentiles' in the context of effective trauma treatment due to terrorism or war," says Prof. Rivka Tuval-Meshik, a clinical psychologist and researcher from the Department of Psychology at Bar-Ilan University. Prof. Tovel-Mesih also serves as the chairman of the steering committee of the NTL association - victims of trauma on a national background, and in this framework she was a partner in the development of models of intervention with individuals and communities, to deal with traumas on a terrorist background. She will present these models this September at a special conference of the UN Committee on Combating Terrorism (Counter-Terrorism Committee). "These are models we teach all over the world."
Tovel-Meshik has been dealing with trauma for 30 years, in everything related to its effect on individuals and communities. She does this as a therapist, as a researcher and as an influencer on the treatment policy for those victims. "GodPsychology as a discipline specializes in developing a therapeutic response for the individual and not for the community. Therefore, the answer is given through the individual. But over the years, the understanding developed that a traumatic injury produces ripples, and does not harm only the victim but also his environment, and therefore therapeutic methods have developed for the circles close to the patient - the parents, children and spouses. In addition, when the trauma is not personal but collective, in addition to harming individuals, community and social tissues are also harmed, and therefore a different set of coping mechanisms than personal trauma is required."
The UN committee was established several years ago and dealt mainly with military and legal issues, with the aim of reducing terrorism in the world. Today, the committee also includes a subcommittee that deals with the treatment of victims of terrorism - physical, legal, political and mental treatment. At the conference organized by the committee, Prof. Tovel-Mashik will appear alongside a number of experts from around the world who will be invited to speak, including lawyers, researchers and psychologists. "What happens to a citizen of a European country who makes his way to work and is exposed to an attack? ” asks Prof. Tovel-Mashik, “Who does he turn to to get an answer? In Israel, we know how to respond to situations like this from the first minutes after the event, and of course also later - whether a month after or several years after the trauma. This meeting is an opportunity to share important knowledge and get to know the subject in depth."
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