Hebrew University International Conference Explores Trauma Throughout the Life Cycle

Jerusalem — On Sunday, January 8 and Monday, January 9 the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare is hosting a wide-ranging international conference on “Trauma through the Life Cycle from a Strengths-Based Perspective.” Over 100 presenters from locations including Israel, Canada, Denmark, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States will examine such diverse topics such as "Community Emergency Teams at the Carmel Forest Fire: Lessons and Recognition," "When the Worst is Happening: Treatment for Children Who Lost Both of their Parents During a Car Accident," "Creating Bridges between Syringe Exchanges and Drug Abuse Treatment: Effects on Exposure to New Traumatic Events" and “It’s Everyone’s Trauma: How to Use Expressive Arts Therapy to Address Trauma in a Multicultural World.”

The conference is co-organized with New York University’s Silver School of Social Work and the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma. A conference program can be viewed at http://traumaconference.huji.ac.il/Conference_Program.pdf and presenters’ abstracts can be seen at http://traumaconference.huji.ac.il/Conference_Abstract.pdf.

Topics relating to recent Israeli experiences include "Resilience and Vulnerability after Seven Years of Continuous Rocket Fire: A Comparative Study of Four Communities," examining the responses of residents from a city and a rural community exposed to seven years of daily mortar fire. Factors such as gender, age, history of trauma, economic loss, and social support will be assessed for their impact on resilience and vulnerability to chronic war-related attacks. In related research, "Playing with Fire:  An Empirically Supported Play Intervention for Toddlers and Families” will focus on a preventive intervention implemented with mothers and toddlers living under the chronic stress of recurrent missile attacks in the area of Sderot.

In “Safe Haven: Coping with Losing One's Home Through Demolition in a Conflictual Multicultural Context," a joint Israeli-Palestinian research team explores the effects of different types of home demolitions, in contexts such as the Second Lebanon War, the Gaza Strip withdrawal and unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev.

But the conference is about more than terrorism and political violence. Its various tracks include “The Impact of Traumatic Events on the Family, “Trauma and Psychological Distress,” “Interventions with Grieving and Traumatized Children” and more.

“It is about all spheres of life and how both the general population and directly affected populations face trauma at the personal and societal level," says conference co-chair Dr. Miriam Schiff, of the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare. "Not everyone exposed to trauma develops symptoms immediately. But for those who do develop symptoms, they are likely to impact many areas of life, especially in children. The idea is to learn who are the vulnerable populations, what are the most appropriate means of intervention, and what are the different phases in which it’s appropriate to intervene, including preparing the population for emergencies and trauma."

Lectures will be held in English. The conference includes a networking session and visit to the Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma on January 10.