Chapter 5 

"COPING WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUICIDE BOMBINGS"

RESULTS OF SURVEY OF 510 ISRAELI ADULTS

 
84 (16.4%) Personally involved in terrorist attacks in past 18 months 

113 (22.1%) Family member or friend wounded or killed 

78 (15.3%) Knew someone who survived uninjured 

(Bleich et al., 2003) 

Nearly 4 in 10 had survived attacks, lost family members or had family or friends wounded.

In the long term, needs really unfold

Trauma Survivors Provide Support to Other Terror Victims

 
Volunteer resources during a time of disaster or other community-wide trauma may foster both individual and community resilience and post-traumatic recovery (Rosse 1993). Terrorism is an attack on the community to which volunteerism is a communal response. Trauma isolates, often threatening to destroy the bonds between the individual and the community. The presence of volunteers conveys a message of caring and connectedness. The sense of belonging and being part of a community is more important in the process of reconstruction of meaning and resolution of trauma. 

Understanding the motivation of volunteers is important in mobilizing them and reducing attrition 
rates. Volunteering in the aftermath of terrorism (and other disasters) is for many a way of coping 
and an avenue to self-growth. Instead of remaining passive spectators witnessing horrors (in cafes, 
buses, shopping malls) or on television, people choose to engage actively in reaching out to others 
and to alleviate suffering. In the face of the ongoing threat of terror, the active nature of helping 
others can reduce the sense of helplessness and promote a feeling of connectedness. But, supporters 
need to be supported. By providing adequate support, on-going training, and guidance, agencies 
deploying volunteers can ensure an effective emergency and long-term support system while 
conserving and even enriching the volunteers' resources. 

Following a tragedy there is usually an initial outpouring of help, which tends to subside within the 
first few weeks. Grief, trauma and pain do not go away quickly. Unfortunately, it is just when the 
reality of the loss begins to sink in that the victims are often the most alone. It is crucial, therefore, to 
channel as much of the initial volunteer resources as possible to the long-term, when many vital needs 
begin to emerge that are not apparent in the first stage. Volunteers' support is the most important 
during difficult times that trigger the most painful memories, such as holidays or anniversaries, when 
loneliness is heightened, during security crises, or after major terror attacks. 

The importance of operating a 'telephone chain' of volunteers reaching out to offer support cannot be overstated. The long-term presence of volunteers provides a protective shield and conveys society's acknowledgement of the pain and the message, 'We Remember!' 

'Healing retreats' are held for the bereaved and injured at weekends, and vacation outings include 
groups for mutual support which help people reconnect through sharing grief, re-build bridges 
between past, present and future, and restore continuity in life. The presence of volunteers is central 
to this process. Orientation for new volunteers is carried out by groups led by veteran volunteers. 
Volunteers are selected by using criteria of self-confidence, initiative, problem-solving skills, 
sensitivity and compassion. Screening for such qualities helps guard against burnout and attrition. 
Through training, volunteers are empowered to respond in a sensitive and responsible way by 
activating their natural listening skills, common sense, life experience and inner strengths. Volunteers 
learn communication skills through role-playing in small groups and sharing perceptions and 
feelings. 

Empathy is a major issue; 'stepping into another's shoes' and stepping out of them, and the 
difference between empathy and over-identification. Grief and mourning processes are discussed and 
volunteers encouraged to become aware of their feelings about bereavement and death. Crisis 
intervention skills are covered, such as how to initiate contact with people in shock, how to cope with 
possible initial rejection or ambivalence and how to provide a quiet, responsive, responsible and 
reassuring presence in the midst of chaos.

 
Volunteers can also play an important role in helping survivors and families of victims tell and re-tell 
their 'stories'. Telling one's story to an understanding listener helps restore continuity, a sense of 
identity and connectedness. New volunteers are sent out with experienced volunteers who serve as 
role models and sources of inspiration, and help them move on gradually from an observer role to 
active involvement in crisis intervention. 

Support providers working with disaster and terror survivors are subject to risks ranging from emotional exhaustion and burnout, through heightened anxiety and nightmares, up to secondary traumatization marked by the full range of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms. Burnout may stem primarily from the enormous stress of the work, with its many demands and the resulting sense that one can never do enough. Volunteers who do not receive adequate support may soon find their emotional resources depleted. 

Helping volunteers find an optimal interpersonal space reduces the risk of debilitating over-involvement. They may be prone to over-identification impeding their ability to provide support. They may find emotional wounds are re-opened through the experience of helping others. Volunteers often ask 'Am I doing the right thing?' 

Meetings, workshops and seminars can provide essential feedback, affirmation and reassurance. The 
shocked, grieving and traumatized people they work with cannot be expected to do this. Family 
support is also important so that they can better understand and accept the volunteers' reactions when 
they return home after a difficult experience.

 
Among the volunteers are those who are survivors themselves and/or who have themselves lost family 
members. Having themselves coped with tragedy, they now reach out to help others. Such volunteers 
often have a special sensitivity, understanding and perspective. Their contribution to the volunteer 
endeavour is immense. For the newly bereaved and injured, they are often able to offer a unique 
source of support that conveys a special understanding – without their having to say a word. 

A woman called Tanya lost her son in a terror attack. At first she did not want to live. Luda, a volunteer 
whose son had been killed three years earlier provided her with a role model for living. Tanya said 
later, "It was the first time I met a woman with the same fate. I saw a woman who was alive, who 
wants to continue living, working, eating, a woman with two feet on the ground. At that moment I 
understood that I would actually live." Tanya herself later became a volunteer visiting bereaved 
families. 

Sources: Interview with Eleanor Pardess, psychologist, 22 June 2004;Pardess, "Training 
and Mobilizing Volunteers for Emergency and Long-Term Support" in Yael, Brom, Shalev, & 
Waiser (Ed.): "The Trauma of Terror: Learning from the Israeli and American Experiences" 

Dynamic atmosphere of caring pervades busy Almagor headquarters. 

Almagor has 1,600 clients and concentrates on social aspects of helping people cope with terror. Some clients meet twice weekly, thirty to sixty people at a time. Then there are fortnightly meetings for people aged 18-30. These are lively events with 15-20 youngsters, and there may be an invited speaker, singers, plays and karaoke sessions. 

Some Almagor volunteers assist students with homework. Some regularly visit terror survivors, like a 23-year-old man who was wounded in his eyes, legs and hearing in a Jerusalem bus bombing a year ago and spent a year in hospital. Almagor volunteers visited him regularly. He is just now "coming back to normal life ". 

Volunteers visit another family where both parents died in a terror attack. The children attend meetings for youth, and their grandparents, who are caring for them, attend the adult support group meetings. People who survived particular bombings or lost relatives come to network and talk to other bereaved families. A dynamic atmosphere of caring pervades the busy headquarters. 

Teenagers recently went on a four-day trip to the Golan. They rode horses, went kayaking and had a 
chance to meet other youngsters who had experienced similar traumatic events and who said "we are 
all going through the same experiences. "After the trip they kept in touch with each other. 

Source: Interview at Almagor in Jerusalem, March 2005 

Coping with the ravages of the terror industry 

One Family provides an eloquent response 

One Family provides direct financial, legal and emotional assistance to the survivors, checks with the 
National Insurance Institute and hospital workers about rights, and makes sure victims receive 
entitled care. There are group discussions, children's programs and rehabilitation programs. One 
Family provides personalized care and support, listening to problems and giving based on need. It 
maintains ongoing, unconditional one-to-one contact, creating a sense of family among victims, and 
helping to re-build shattered lives. There is a full-time legal counsel to help sort out urgent legal 
problems of families suddenly plunged into chaos by loss and grief, such as mortgage problems and 
inheritance where there is no will.

 
Immediate needs may include emergency care and household upkeep, and short-term needs such as 
services not covered by National Insurance or the social services. In the longer term, One Family may 
provide counselling, job retraining and placement, legal advice, financial advice, service coordination and outreach. By February 2004 there were over 2000 direct financial aid grants, including aid for rent, purchasing of furniture, debt relief, home alterations, home purchase, transportation, purchase of computers, clothing, and grants for tuition so that survivors and families of victims could pursue studies and courses. Gifts of festive baskets of sweets, cheesecakes, honey, and flowers are sent to families on festivals. Some families have needed electrical appliances, and others orthopedic beds, or treadmills for wounded survivors. Families have also been helped to fund weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. 

Psychological help is also provided. There are special activities like youth camps and retreats 
including travel abroad to the USA, England and Belgium. In this way victims can feel that they have 
a family of concerned people around the world, helping, caring and praying for them. Volunteers 
maintain regular contact with victims, visiting lonely families, providing tutoring, babysitters, 
household help, driving wounded family members to hospital or therapy sessions and hospitality on 
the Sabbath. There is an Adopt-a-Family Project which creates a lasting bond between overseas 
communities. By February 2004, 158 families had been adopted, with One Family overseeing the 
'twinning process'. There have been retreats for healing in Haifa and the Dead Sea, with counselling 
by psychologists, and a retreat for widowers and bereaved parents in Tiberius beside the Sea of 
Galilee. 

A 'Big Brother Program' operates to pair teens who have experienced terrorist attacks with older 
teens and young adults who have had similar experiences. This helps them adjust to their new 
circumstances while getting on with their lives. It coordinates and supplements sponsorships for such 
youth who are invited to spend time abroad. These trips provide healing time for victims badly in need 
of a change of atmosphere. By early 2004 One Family was working with at least 439 children who 
had been orphaned or who had lost a parent in terror attacks. Israeli Arab victims of terror also 
participate in these activities. 

The Youth Division established in 2003 organizes quarterly camps with indoor and outdoor activities, which provide a healthy retreat from the daily pain and tension of the victim's lives. Photo-therapy, music therapy, and art therapy are made available to participants. The summer camps have included 300 participants. The One Family Orphans Fund is devoted to providing long-term educational and housing assistance as well as mental and physical care. 


As of February 2004 there were three regional coordinators, one for Jerusalem and the south, one for 
the West Bank and one for the northern region. One Family's financial expenditures up until 
February 2004 amounted to around 9 million U.S. dollars. To raise funds in the USA for One Family, 
a fund-raising art auction was held, and a dance-a-thon in Beverly Hills, and elsewhere a company 
put together and sold a highway safety and first aid package for emergency use in a car. 

Sources: Interview with One Family, Jerusalem, 9 February 2004. 

"Digital story-telling helps adolescents break cycles of pain"

For example, one story has a scene of a bus devastated in Jerusalem by a suicide bomber, and Sara, a teenage girl, tells us what really happened when she was passing nearby: She rushed to help and saw a wounded baby lying on the ground, its arm almost severed. She picked up the baby and accompanied her to hospital. In the story she describes her actions and her feelings. The 3-5 minute self-made digital 'mini-movies' are powerful and eloquent. 

Source: Interview with Y. G, Kids For Kids, Jerusalem 2004. 

For foreign workers – a practical booklet on how to recognize suicide bombers 

 
Between 2000 and 2003 four Philippine foreign workers had been killed and 14 wounded in suicide 
bombing attacks in Israel. Another suicide bombing near the Tel Aviv bus station killed five people 
including three foreign workers, two from Romania and China. Fourteen people were wounded. 

On 5 January 2003 (the third bombing at the old bus station in under a year) 23 people died including a 
Chinese foreign worker. One hundred people were wounded. On 12 April a female suicide bomber in 
Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market detonated her explosives killing 6 civilians including two 
Chinese foreign workers, and wounding one hundred and four people. In the northern coastal city of 
Haifa in December 2001, Egged bus number 16 was blown up killing 15, including a foreign worker 
from the Philippines and wounding forty people. On 5 March 2003 on Haifa's Boulevard Moriah, a 
bomber blew up a bus killing 16 people and wounding 50, including a foreign worker from the 
Philippines. Further north on 4 August 2002 as Egged bus 361 wound its way towards the mountaintop city of Safed a bomber blew up the bus at the Meron Junction, killing 9 people, including another 
foreign worker from the Philippines. Sixty people were wounded. 

Also in August, a foreign worker from the Philippines who worked as a house cleaner and was a widow with elderly parents and a 16year-old son, was killed when Egged bus number 2 was blown up in Jerusalem. Her friends held nightly Catholic prayer meetings in her memory, before her body was flown back to the Philippines. 

In November 2003 there were 30,000 Philippine foreign workers in Israel. The Philippine Embassy 
expressed satisfaction with the treatment which had been received by their wounded nationals, 
including free hospital treatment, surgery, and longer-term treatment. Former Prime Minister 
Binyamin Netanyahu once visited hospitalized foreign workers from the Philippines. Hospital staff 
were reported by Filipinos to have been 'very compassionate' realizing that they often had no family 
or close relatives in Israel. For illegal workers with no official papers, some sought help from the 
non-government organization, Physicians for Human Rights. Others, despite official Israeli government assurance that they would not be apprehended in hospital after a bombing, preferred to treat themselves, even picking out shards of glass from their wounded bodies and applying first aid. Most wounded foreign workers from the Philippines stayed on to work in Israel, and there has been no drop in the numbers of new Filipino workers coming to Israel. 

The Philippine press reported the bombings which killed and wounded their nationals. Such bombings 
were viewed, to some extent, as 'part of everyday life in Israel'. The Embassy felt it was important that 
their nationals did not succumb to feeling victimized by terror. They have produced and circulated to 
their foreign workers a practical booklet outlining how to recognize suicide bombers, and how to 
avoid being killed or wounded. 

For example by taking a shared taxi instead of a public bus, and how to prepare a sealed room (bomb 
shelter) in case of major terror attack. The Embassy expressed the hope that this present report would 
provide a deeper understanding of how Israelis actually reconstruct their lives after the bombings, 
and what coping strategies can also be useful to foreign workers here. They felt that the deep spiritual 
faith of Filipinos is an important component of their resiliency. 

Sources : Interview at the Philippine Embassy, 18 November 2003; D. Rudge: 'Fatah Blamed for 
Tel Aviv Attack', Jerusalem Post, 9 July 2002; Haaretz, 25 August 2003 

"I thought maybe I have lost my legs; maybe I am going to die"

A passer-by in army uniform dragged me away to a safer place. I felt blood coming from the back of 
my head and I could not stand. I knew I was wounded in my right thigh, my left heel, and that my right 
arm had an open fracture. I kept thinking of my wife and of my elderly parents in Tarlac in the 
northern Philippines , and my wife’s parents. I thought maybe I had lost my legs and I thought maybe I was going to die. After 8-15 minutes Magen David Adom staff arrived. They took me to Wolfson 
hospital, then later I was transferred to Tel Hashomer Hospital, partly through the help of a past 
employer. I was unconscious for almost a day. When I gained consciousness the doctors told me they 
didn’t know yet whether they would do surgery on my head. They told me a metal screw had 
penetrated my brain. 

The following day my wife and brothers came to see me. They hadn’t known if I was alive or dead. My 
wife stayed with me and slept in the hospital. The hospital social worker helped us. Staff from the 
Philippine Embassy came to see me, and religious people visited me. People from a Kibbutz where I 
had worked looking after elderly people came to see me later in rehabilitation, and they encouraged 
me to go forward. 

Three months later the metal screw was removed from my head. I realize I may have lost a little of my 
long-term memory. For example, I can’t remember the time when I was a student. Sometimes I feel 
dizzy. Recently doctors removed a metal ball from my right arm. For four to five months 1 attended a 
rehabilitation centre for physiotherapy and occupational therapy paid for by the Israeli Government. 
I have started work looking after an old man, but I cannot lift things. Fortunately he is still able to 
walk himself. I tried to start working earlier in a laundry store with washing machines. I worked there 
for 3 weeks, but I kept fearing another explosion, so I left that job. I have been helped when not 
working by Social Security. We get by on a small income because we are thrifty. For seven months 
Social Security paid 80% of the apartment rent. We used to send two hundred dollars a month to our 
elderly parents in the Philippines, but now can only send one hundred. I am the eldest of three 
children in my family. 

My left hand is better, but I still feel some numbness. I want the screw removed from my elbow but 
doctors tell me it may not be ready for removal for 2-3 years, so I have to live with it. They will do 
something to improve the hearing in my right ear. Today the thoughts that help me most are that my 
wife and month-old baby are with me. Twice I have dreamt of the bombing, have relived it in my 
dreams. I don’t think about the suicide bombers or their families. But every time I see an Arab-looking 
person it reminds me of the bombing. I don’t feel anything against the Palestinians. I continue to 
believe in miracles. I would like people outside Israel to know what happens because they really can’t know the reality here unless they have experienced it themselves. Sometimes I think that if I had not run in the other direction, 1 would have missed the second bomb.” 

The two male bombers had used very large bombs, intending to kill as many people as possible in an 
area crowded with civilians and overseas workers. Fatah and el-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades claimed 
responsibility for the bombing. 

Sources: Interview with M. S, 2 December 2003

The vulnerability of the deaf and blind

Source: Wisemon, "An Extra Challenge" The Jerusalem 29 Report, July 2002

"Coping With Terror as a Way of Life"

"Keep in contact with your loved ones." Try to know where they are – or are supposed to be – all the
time. Never mind your cell-phone bill.

"Maintain good social support networks" in your family and in your workplace. Remember colleagues
also share pain and suffering. Maybe arrange a group discussion led by a counsellor or psychologist.

 
"Enjoy festivals and help others to celebrate, like poorer families, the elderly, lone soldiers." Reach
out.

"Increase your voluntary work." The country is brimming with voluntary organizations, and one is
waiting for you.

 
"Have extra patience with other people, they also 'burn on a short fuse' and can get angry quickly."

"Be kind to your pets – they don't know what is happening."

"Don't beep your horn so much." It doesn't really help and bad driving is a feature of the landscape.

"Discover the healing force of nature. Plant flowers, seek the silence of the desert and walk by the
sea."

 
"Enjoy listening to music. Dance, watch good movies and videos. Avoid violent movies or videos – we
have enough violence for real."

"Keep your sense of humour, the terrorists cannot kill that. Your jokes may live afterwards."

"Don't feel ashamed if you feel the need for trauma counseling." Regard it as a positive step to seek a
psychologist, a bereavement counselor. If you need help, seek it, that's what professionals are for.

 
"Try to understand why the terror attacks are happening, even though you may hate the terrorists."
Don't lose sight of our common humanity with Arabs who do not support terror.

"Mainstream terror attacks into the pattern of your everyday life – what else can you do?"

"Keep going on buses and trains and planes, but, have a look at who is boarding the bus and who is
sitting near you." Maybe sitting nearer an exit door could help a bit.

"Make a will so that if you go suddenly your family know what is supposed to happen to your material
possessions." It can help them at a painful chaotic time.

"Avoid watching too much TV coverage of terror attacks except for 15- 20 minutes a day. Get actively
involved in a media watch network."

"Cook new recipes for your family. Eat a good, healthy, balanced diet of Mediterranean-style foods. It
makes you happy". Eat seasonal, locally grown food like fruit, olive oil, 'humous' (chickpeas). Avoid
drinking too much coffee, or alcohol – the 'buzz' they give only lasts a short time.

"Give of yourself and your possessions to others who may need them." "There is always someone
worse off than you. Try to reach out to them."

"Thank the Almighty every day for things which are still good in your life ". Even though you may feel
the pain of nails or metal balls still embedded in your body.

"Things may get worse but they may also get better. It may take time to get better. Be realistic, but
never lose your optimism – it is a gift".

Sources: Interviews with survivors and families of victims of suicide bombings and other terror
attacks during Civilian Project 2001-5

No Time To Say Goodbye; Why We Need to Say Goodbye Before We Die

She ducked down as she continued driving. Then a hail of gunfire. One bullet pierced her heart. Later, she was discovered dead in her car, pierced like a sieve by the 24 bullets of a Hamas gunman. Meanwhile her bus driver husband Itzak was taking schoolchildren home. He heard the shots and he even saw in the distance the remains of the car amid a crowd at the scene of the attack. He also saw an ambulance. He shouted "It's Hadas for sure!"

To protect the schoolchildren he turned away along a different road and safely delivered them home. On a far-away desert road to the south, her brother-in-law heard of the terror attack on his car radio. He called his brother Itzak who said "something has happened!" Itzak went to the scene – and saw his dead wife.

In the desert town, Itzak's sister Levana was cooking for the Sabbath when she heard the news of her
sister-in-law 's death. "I felt a hard pain, like a stomach-ache. I could not breathe properly. I could
not cry. I thought, 'I must be in control of myself. I told my three children of the death of their aunt. I
got my neighbours to take care of my children. I kept thinking, 'What will happen to my brother's
children?' I threw clothes into a suitcase. My husband and I drove through the desert and on down the
coastal plain. It was two and a half hours before we reached my brother's house. It was a terrible
drive. We felt so confused."

"When we saw my brother it was like he had shrunk inside. He was so unnaturally quiet. He had been
organized in the first few hours. He had waited for the social worker to arrive before he told his
children their mother was dead. He cried a lot, which was not like him. He kept repeating, like a
mantra, 'Why did she have to go out then? Why did this happen to me?' Later he said to me, 'You
should take the meat out of the fridge – it was for Shabbat.' But when I looked in the fridge, there was
nothing there. Hadas had not even had time to put meat in the fridge."

"I used to talk to my sister-in-law on the phone every Sabbath eve, about our families, news of the
past week, ideas for new recipes. She lived for her children and family. She was very lively, and loved
playing cards with me at home. Sometimes we met in Tel Aviv for coffee. We were very good friends.
On that terrible night driving up from the desert northwards I felt a numbness. I tried hard to
remember my last conversation with my sister-in-law. Even now, two years later, when I sit down to
meditate, I see her in my mind. I try to get an 'image' of her, not a picture, but an image. I try to
visualize her. I sit every week for fifteen minutes to meditate like this. I believe this is what she would
want."

"Now, after what has happened, I think often about the way we remember people who have died. It is
the Jewish custom for close relatives of the deceased to 'sit Shiva' which means the seven-day initial
mourning period. When Hadas died, many people visited Itzak's house to comfort the family. One
evening I sat alone in the large tent erected in his garden for the mourners. It was cold and I lit a
cigarette. I started to think of Hadas. The image stuck in my head of when her body had been brought
home, and Itzak had insisted on seeing it. He had said, 'How small she looks now.' Sitting alone in the
cold, dark tent I could not conjure up her image alive. I felt I could not remember her well enough
alive. I needed to see her speaking, smiling, I felt responsibility for her children aged eighteen months
to sixteen.

When I am with them now, I act like she would have done. It is important 'to see things as she would have'. I still feel a big pain inside when I see photos of Hadas. That part of my life is frozen.

Until now I cannot find anything to comfort me. I am not religious. We had planned to go all together
to Turkey; she had never travelled. I thought afterwards, why had we had not done that sooner? We
had so many other joint plans. I wanted to ask Hadas what we were supposed to do if she died. What
she would like us to do for her family. When I see my brother's difficulties in bringing up his family
alone it disturbs me."

"I wanted desperately to have been able to say goodbye to Hadas; there was no time to say goodbye.
We need to say goodbye before we die. After three months I took a notebook and wrote down what I
myself would like my own children to think about and to know if I myself died tomorrow. So that it
would not be such a big pain for them. I wrote down what I wanted my husband to know, and my
children. The ways in which I love them and what is special to me about each of them. I would like
them to know that I feel I have had a good life. That now, even after the tragedy of Hadas's death I
feel the important thing about life is to smile and to be kind. It is a simple way to go forward, not so
painful. Her death will cause me pain all my life, but I feel I am learning to deal with it. I feel that I
have learned what the most important things in life are, so I don't waste any time. I live intensively. I
feel more secure now that if I die suddenly, they will know that I died peacefully."

Sources: Interview with L, 30 November 2003, Mitzpe Ramon

"Hope Shattered Into Death -All We Can Do Is to Ease the Pain"

 
"I called every parent, every family and invited them personally." And, to her great surprise they
agreed to come. "The memorial concert seemed very important to them. Suddenly they realized that
they were not forgotten and that we all remembered. Memory, which holds them together, is the only
cure that can, maybe, heal those agonizing emotional wounds. There were some parents, originally
from Russia who were even thinking of leaving Israel who did not enjoy life here and were thinking of
seeking a new home. But now they say Israel is the only place they want to be. Their child's blood
connects them to the soil of our land."

Zlata plays the piano and keyboard and sings in Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian. For that memorial
concert she wrote new poems, after the painful experience at the Dolphinarium. At the concert she
reached deep into the hearts of families who were still mourning their young ones. They, like Zlata
had made Israel their home and then had to acknowledge the searing pain of loss in a land where
peace is a dream and poems teach that this dream is still out of reach. Zlata spoke of "hope shattered
into death, crying, and wounds that would, unfortunately, not be easily healed. All we can try to do is
to ease the pain."

The use of music to relieve pain has been recorded throughout history from the oldest known
documentation of medical practices, the Kahun papyrus c.1900 BCE, which refers to the use of
incantations for healing the sick. In the Middle Ages the Italian tarantella dance was used to relieve
the pain of stings or bites of tarantulas. Current music therapy is sometimes used in medical and
dental settings. Studies of use of music therapy have recorded reduced post-operative pain,
normalization of blood pressure after surgery, reduced pain in cancer patients, and reduced sensation
and distress during the pain of childbirth. Music therapy uses client-therapist interaction through
music, in order to preserve healthy qualities, promote development and change, and achieve better
quality of life. Dynamic music therapy workshops are used to promote self-development and
emotional maturity, and work in clinical setting enables integration of professional skills. The music
therapist is a professional who employs skills and knowledge derived from interdisciplinary training,
combined with a thorough knowledge of music and therapeutic theories and methods. Research is
currently being carried out in Israel to scientifically verify if music can decrease perception of pain,
and what types of music can produce that effect.

Sources: Ajzenstadt, "Composer Seeks to Heal Parents' Dolphinarium Wounds With Music"
Jerusalem Post 3 September 2001; Moont, 6 September 2004

Art Therapy is the marriage of art and psychotherapy

In South America and Africa, people heal themselves using creative processes as tools. Generally, art
therapy has been practiced elsewhere with adults, children, adolescents, elderly people, people with
terminal illnesses, war veterans, people with disabilities, prisoners, and people with emotional
disorders. "Art therapy is essentially the marriage of two disciplines, art and psychotherapy. The
word 'theraperia/therapia' comes from the Greek word meaning to 'be attentive to'. In art therapy a
skilled professional attends to the individual who is making the art, and this guidance is key to the
therapeutic process. This supportive relationship guides the art-making experiences and helps the
individual find meaning through it along the way" (Malchiodi 1998)

 
Training in art therapy began in the 1970s in the USA and in Israel in the 1980s. In 1995 art
therapists in Oklahoma City in the USA worked with 120 survivors and families of the Oklahoma
bombing for two weeks following that tragedy as a way to help survivors express their grief. In Israel
aspiring art therapists need to have a first degree in psychology, social work or a related subject.
Currently art therapy is available through treatment centres with professionals such as psychologists,
who offer it alongside various other expressive therapies. The largest employer of art therapists is the
Ministry of Education, due to the traumatization of children since 2000. Art therapy may involve
therapist and client undertaking several 45-minute sessions after school hours, alone at a table with
art-making materials such as paint, clay, or pencils. The therapist acts primarily as partner in the
artistic exploration, gently guiding the client in a way which strengthens them, using free and
interactive drawing.

One terror victim support organization had a client who was so traumatized at losing a family
member that she could hardly speak or move as a result of the trauma. By the end of the art therapy
she could both speak and dance. Art therapy can be very useful with children because they often
cannot express themselves in words, and may not be aware of how they feel. Art-therapy links to the
vital and healthy part of a person, tapping in and strengthening them, making them feel better
understood and not alone.

Sources: Interview with art therapist T. H ; Malchiod, "The Art Therapy Sourcebook"
Lowell Home, Los Angeles 1998; "Target: Israeli Children" Ministry of Education, State of Israel,
2002

"We are starting to come back to life like a bud flowering"

'Horticultural therapy' is basically an interactive process designed to produce psychological,
emotional and spiritual healing and increase resiliency following trauma. It can enhance feelings of
responsibility ad achievement, and increase self-growth and optimism. It can be a social or a solitary
activity. Activities such as planting, being close to nature are allied to professional treatment for
traumatized people. The main purpose is to improve the patient's quality of life physically and
psychologically. The horticultural therapist assesses the needs of a traumatized patient and uses this
knowledge to design an intervention to fulfill the client's needs. This may involve approaches and
activities like basic training in gardening, increase of client's curiosity about growing plants, flowers
and herbs, stimulation of the senses (e.g. the smell of roses), increase in the senses of hearing, touch,
and taste, and increase sensitivity to the surrounding community.

 
Horticulture as therapy originated from treatment in a psychiatric hospital in the United States where
people found comfort in nature. In ancient Egypt physicians reputedly recommended patients to take
calming walks in gardens to reduce stress. The often rural location of psychiatric hospitals has aided
in developing horticulture as therapy, using herbs and vegetable growing. By 1798, in Pennsylvania,
USA. such approaches were in use with patients also engaging in some farm work. In 1817 a new
psychiatric hospital was built around a large garden with wooded and shaded areas and a vegetable
garden. In 1900 war wounded benefited from horticultural therapy. By 1917 Bloomingdale hospital
had opened a facility to teach horticultural therapy. During the 1950-1960s the professionalism of the
therapy further developed and a master's degree in horticultural therapy became available. In Israel
horticultural therapy was used with the elderly. In 1999 the first course in horticultural therapy
became available in Tel Aviv University, with the first graduates by 2000. Horticulture as therapy is
also used in England.

Perhaps, after all the destruction of the suicide bombers, growing living things, plants, flowers, trees,
herbs, reminds people of wholeness, growth, capacity to achieve. The clients in the Tel Hashomer
Community Centre said, 'We can laugh and enjoy. We are starting to come back to life again, like a
bud flowering."

Sources: Interview in Tel Aviv with I. R. Horticultural therapist 31 January 2005;
Additional information from Zehava Even-Paz, Tel Hashomer Hospital, Tel Aviv, January 2005