The events of October 7 and the war that followed created terrifying and unprecedented cycles of horror, bereavement, injury, kidnapping, destruction, and evacuation.

In the third meeting, we will speak with Dr. Einat Yahna, Dr. Dana Mor, and Dr. Avital Gershfeld Litwin .

The conversation will deal with coping with the profound loss, the deep and ongoing pain and injuries to the body and mind of the survivors of captivity, the families of the kidnapped, the living and the dead, and the bereaved families and friends. We will look at the tools and resources that we, as professionals and society, can make available to them at this time.

The conversation will be inspired by the chapters written by Avital, Einat, and Dana in the book "Between the Fractures: Trauma, Coping, and Hope." Here are a few words about their main thoughts in the book:

Dr. Einat Yahna focuses in the chapter "Beyond the Battlefield: On the Journey of Recovery of the Wounded and Their Families Since October 7th" on the trauma and various losses caused by injury in war or terrorist events. This injury, Dr. Yahna argues, involves trauma and loss that span physical, functional, cognitive, interpersonal, and occupational aspects, and also includes psychological wounds, which are often hidden from view. The chapter offers an organizing framework for thinking about these physical and psychological injuries, as well as tools based on theory, research, and clinical practice that contribute to coping with the complex rehabilitation process they require.

In the chapter " How to Contain an Ongoing Trauma: Treatment and Support for Families of the Abducted," Dr. Dana Mor will present the challenge of emotional support for families of the abducted, an area about which professional knowledge was extremely limited. Dana combines concepts from the field of trauma, loss, and bereavement with insights that emerged from working in the resilience team at the families' headquarters and from conversations with therapists who care for the abducted families, to create central themes that may shed light on the families' coping and contribute to the ability to provide them with tailored and optimal care.

Dr. Avital Gershfeld Litwin writes in Chapter Eleven: "War is a Crying Thing" - The Uniqueness of the Processes of Loss and Grief Following the Events of October 7th" as follows: "We are faced with masses of mourners, men, women, and their bereaved; all of us, as a society, are stricken with grief and bereavement that continue and accumulate." Based on this understanding, the chapter attempts to shed light on the essence of the grieving processes : What are they? What is included in them? What is the mental process that the mourner goes through? How does he go through it? And perhaps most importantly, what are the therapeutic approaches required in the face of the enormous burden of grief?

About the lecturers:

Dr. Einat Yahana - Clinical neuropsychologist and rehabilitation psychologist instructor. Senior lecturer at the School of Behavioral Sciences at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic and at the Mifarashim Institute for Psychotherapy Research and Teaching. Engages in treatment, teaching and research in the field of trauma, loss and adaptation to life-altering events. Head of the Rehabilitation Department in the Health System at the Abductees' Families Headquarters.

Dr. Dana Mor - Clinical psychologist and psychotherapy instructor. Lecturer at the 'Sailors' School of Psychotherapy at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College and at the Magid Institute's School of Psychotherapy. Since October 2023, she has been accompanying teams and family members at the Abductees' Families Headquarters. She facilitates grief and loss groups and coordinates the field of accompanying the families of the deceased abductees in the Resilience Team at the Families Headquarters.

Dr. Avital Gershfeld Litwin - Medical Psychologist and Instructor. Engaged in treatment, research, teaching, training and coaching of care personnel in the fields of illness, disability, loss, grief and bereavement. Serves as head of the Medical Psychology Department at the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic and coordinator of the Loss and Grief Unit at the Mifarashim Institute for Psychotherapy Research and Teaching. Since 2018, she has served as chair of the Professional Committee for Medical Psychology on behalf of the Ministry of Health.