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Issue 10, Spring 2020

8 Transcending Victimization through Empowerment

By Myra Giberovitch The core experiences of psychological trauma are disempowerment and disconnection from others. J.L. Herman (1992) VICTIMIZATION Long-term victimization under a systematic and comprehensive program of genocide adversely affected the mental and emotional well-being of many survivors. ‘People who have endured horrible events suffer predictable psychological harm’ (Herman, 1992:3). Although survivors differ from…

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Issue 10, Spring 2020

Principles and Practices for Implementing Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care for Holocaust Survivors and Other Older Adults

Barbara Joyce Bedney, Ph.D., M.S.W., Leah Bergen Miller, B.A, and Shelley Rood Wernick, M.B.A. The Jewish Federations of North America Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care Introduction It is currently estimated that close to 90% of American adults 18 and over have had at least one traumatic event in their lifetimes (Kilpatrick et al., 2013).…

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Issue 10, Spring 2020

The Tasty Travels Club for Holocaust Survivors at JFCS of Greater Philadelphia

Carly M. Bruski, LMSW, Assistant Director, Holocaust Survivor Support Program “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard The Holocaust Survivor Support Program offers an array of social programming, but without a doubt one of the favorites is Tasty Travels Club. This exciting program began at JFCS’ Barbara and Harvey Brodsky Enrichment…

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Issue 10, Spring 2020

Person-Centered Trauma-Informed Yoga Therapy with Holocaust Survivors and their Family Caregivers

Alyssa Reiner, MSW, LSW, RYT200 More than seventy years after the Holocaust, the complete impact of pervasive trauma on Survivors continues to be under investigation. An increased sense of fragility results in a mind-body relationship characterized by pain, misunderstanding, and lack of control. A childhood signified by extreme malnutrition, life-threatening illness, physical assault, disruption of…

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Issue 10, Spring 2020

Max, An Unconventional Father

By Renee Symonds BA Dip. Ed., MA Psych.   An unconventional father, I had, A confirmed Communist too And here in Australia  A Socialist would do A lover of languages He used them all, To shape his ideas, Compromising, not at all, As if a Pied Piper, he followed his tune As he stuck to his tune,…

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Issue 9, Spring 2019

Holocaust Survivors As Participant Educators: Giving Space To Lived Experience Of Social Trauma in Collective Memory

By Irit Felsen, Ph.D. and Elizabeth Edelstein This paper describes the Educators program at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City. This program reflects the unique emphasis of the Museum on the lived experience of eyewitnesses to the events of the Holocaust and on interactive engagement with…

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Issue 9, Spring 2019

German Child Survivors in Action

By Philipp Sonntag On 13 April 2001, the Association of Child Survivors in Germany (Child Survivors Deutschland, CSD) was established, nearly fifty-five years after the end of the Holocaust. The group, initially modest in its aims, soon became an invaluable new organization, which served as a kind of “surrogate family,” for many survivors. It offered…

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Issue 8, Spring 2018 Spring 2018

Collection of Poetry from Betyna Bock

By Betyna Bock Nora at the Fruit Shop In Theresienstadt you worked in the vegetable garden and stole fruit and vegetables. You defied death by disregarding the rules and hiding them in your lumber jacket while the Czech police weren’t looking. Now sixty years later in your smart red blazer and pleated floral skirt you breeze…

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Issue 8, Spring 2018 Spring 2018

Teaching About Trauma: Models for Training Service Providers in Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care

By Michael Andrew Eisinger, M.A., and Barbara Joyce Bedney, Ph.D., M.S.W. The Jewish Federations of North America Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care December 29, 2017 According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2014), “individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by…

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Issue 8, Spring 2018 Spring 2018

Art Therapy With Holocaust Survivors: A Case Study

By Tatiana Kastner, MSW, RSW “Art is a powerful tool of communication,” as C.A. Malchiodi says in her Handbook of Art Therapy (2003, p. 3). Its therapeutic benefits for the person’s emotional well being have been reported for diverse populations (Canadian Art Therapy Association, 2017). The multi-faceted approach of Expressive Therapies can be very appropriate…