Tel-Hai Magazine 2022

The Drama Therapy Graduate Program, Tel-Hai College: making a dramatic impact in the community By Prof. Susana Pendzik and Dr. Dovrat Harel

Deconstructing the past, constructing the future – dealing with historic collective trauma This project was initiated by Prof. Susa na Pendzik, former Head of the Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel-Hai, who specializes in performance-based research and the use of autobiographical theater for therapeutic purposes. The project was developed in collaboration with Ingrid Lutz and a team of German researchers. It was defined as a commu nity-based preventive approach that aimed to tackle the traces of historical and collective trauma in Germany’s younger generations. The program used drama therapy meth ods in order to gather images and narra tives concerning the historical events that occurred in Germany between 1933 1945, including the Holocaust, as per ceived today by 9th graders from two

The Drama Therapy Graduate Program at Tel-Hai College developed from Prof. Mooli Lahad’s pioneering work in Israel in the late 1980s, and has since grown to become the prestigious program it is to day. Constantly evolving, the program responds to real life needs, and social and demographic changes, integrating the basic principles of behavioral sciences and psychotherapy with the human need for expression, action, and creativity. The program acquaints students with cut ting-edge theory and practice in drama therapy, and provides advanced tools to develop their clinical abilities and thera peutic skills. It is a unique program that not only trains therapists to treat individ uals, but is also committed to having an impact on the community as a whole, addressing various social issues. Two wonderful examples of this are the ‘De constructing the Past, Constructing the Future’ project, and the ‘Tele-Drama Therapy’ project.

different schools in Berlin: an integrative community school in Neukölln (a former West-Berlin borough characterized by housing a high percentage of immigrants in the city); and at “Primo-Levy Gymna sium,” an academic high school, named after the Italian writer, Auschwitz survi vor and Jewish resistance fighter. The materials collected from the young sters were shaped into a film and present ed to them as a resonance of their input. Both the process and the performance aimed at generating a safe platform for further dialogue, focusing on how this legacy is being construed amongst Ger man youngsters today, in light of the rac ist and xenophobic attitudes that have recently resurfaced in Germany as the nation was confronted with stressful situ ations that challenged its sense of collec tive identity. The feedback from the youngsters and the schools was extremely positive. In the

Tel-Hai Magazaine | 2022 16