Tel-Hai Magazine 2023-2024

Paying it Forward - restoring Israel’s resilience during war

As this is being written, Israel is still at war. The northern front is under constant attack, with tens of thousands of civilians still evacuated from their homes. Many of our faculty members and students continue to serve in the reserves, defending our country on the frontlines, while others have taken on supporting the home front. Tel-Hai's Stress, Trauma and Resilience Track, Department of Social Work The importance of initial interventions in emergency situations is critical: rapid, precise, and effective interventions great ly help both in reducing trauma symp toms and in reducing the risk of future post-trauma - but mainly help the affect ed person to return quickly to function ing during crisis. The Stress, Trauma and Resilience track is a unique study program within the Department of Social Work at Tel Hai. It was founded by Dr. Moshe Far chi, Head of the Department of Social

teering and taking action to support communities during the war. Through out the year, both quantitative and qual itative data was collected to study how these volunteer activities impacted the various communities and what lessons could be learned. This research exam ined the impact of the activities not only on the communities receiving support, but also on the volunteers providing the support who were themselves exposed to the devastating effects of the war. Student Activity During the War Students and graduates of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience track have taken the lead in volunteer activities, working with a deep sense of purpose to establish and execute community resilience pro grams both within the college and throughout the country. They have played a pivotal role in restoring the re silience of Israel’s various communities during the war and will continue to do so in the days ahead. The support they offer is constantly being adjusted to match the changing needs of the various target groups, as the war continues. The principles guiding all

Work and an expert in the field of Psy chological First Aid (PFA) interventions in situations of trauma, emergencies, and disaster. The track's purpose is to train future social workers to become professional and skilled providers of ini tial psychosocial support and interven tion during such crisis situations. Throughout their studies, the students of the track are integrated into various organizations that provide psychosocial interventions in times of crisis and emer gency, such as the Golan Rescue Unit, United Hatzalah, Emergency rooms in hospitals, the Sexual Assault Victims Support Center, and NATAL (National Trauma Victims). After receiving special ized training, students are able to join these organizations' field activities and hotlines. Faculty members of the track are active researchers who continue to develop practical models that may be im plemented in the field. With the outbreak of the war, the De partment of Social Work faculty mem bers established the Research Center for Innovation in Social Work, and decided to dedicate the academic year of 2023 2024 (and longer if necessary) to volun

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