Tel-Hai Takes Action to Support the Home Front

Immediately upon the outbreak of the war, a trauma center for soldiers was established at one of the Tel-Hai campuses. It is staffed by 35 professionals: psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers who have been enlisted to emergency reserve service, and are taking excellent care of soldiers in active duty and reservists in need of mental support during these challenging times. 

The college has designated classrooms and special areas which the specialists use for regular therapy sessions as well as experiential therapies, using sports equipment and other various activities to help soldiers deal with difficulties. 

Tel-Hai is providing the best conditions possible to enable professionals to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. We have organized a birthday station, turned a classroom into a mess hall, allocated sports facilities and equipment and provided hot meals and treats.

We hope for a speedy return to a blessed routine.

Noa, H., and Noam, graduates of the Stress, Trauma and Resilience track of the Social Work B.A. program, contributed to the mental health system of an elite military unit. 

Our graduates trained teams preparing to leave for combat operations. Training focused on providing tools to manage situations of acute stress during combat. Course participants report that the tools they learned gave them a sense of professional confidence to provide assistance in emergency situations. 

We are very proud of our graduates and students across the country who are supporting populations across the social spectrum!

We are experiencing days of high tension throughout the country. Dr. Moshe Farchi, Head of Tel-Hai’s Social Work Department, developed the national resilience model for mental first aid during a crisis. He shared tips and advice with educational staff and parents in dealing with the challenges of a security escalation.

According to Dr. Farchi, "The current state of emergency induces feelings of fear, stress, anxiety, helplessness and difficulty functioning. It is important to understand that everything related to emotional regulation is based on reason and activity. These two elements enable normal functioning and a detachment from anxiety and stress. As soon as we give legitimacy to negative feelings during the event, you reduce the child or person’s ability to function and they experience stress and panic. Therefore, the following steps are recommended: 

Create commitment: Convey the message that everyone is together, and that we are all there to help each other. Emphasize that you, the parents, are always there for your children. Every time you enter the protected space or shelter, say to your children: "I am with you. I am not leaving, I’ll be here all the time, in the shelter and when it is time to leave it.” Remember: emphasizing commitment reduces loneliness.

Engage cognitive abilities: Give children relevant tasks that require cognitive skills such as measuring or sorting. For example: let them be active participants in tracking your groceries and writing shopping lists. You can hand out tasks related to entering the safe space: asking one child to take charge of the snack bag, and another to make sure there are charged mobile phone chargers. 

Emotions like fear and feeling threatened are normal, even helpful, to a degree. Encourage your children to rank their negative emotions with three questions:

Step 1: Explain what you are afraid of
Step 2: Give it a number between 1-10 to express how much it scares you. 
Step 3: What can be done to reduce your fear by 1-2 points?”
 
Remember, the more you encourage thinking and allow choice, the more you will help reduce emotional dysregulation.

Encourage proactivity: Encourage your children to choose areas of responsibility. You, as parents, must make sure that everyone performs their role. For instance, when entering the shelter, you can ask them to organize everyone’s things, or to turn on the radio or the television. We recommend assigning roles to older siblings that will help keep their younger siblings active. Remember that helplessness is the enemy. Encouraging their autonomy and sense of choice increases their control of the situation.

Create order out of chaos: Divide the day into morning, afternoon and evening. Create clear tasks and activities for each part of the day. At the end of each part, briefly summarize the events of the last few hours, paying special attention to the chronological order of events and facts. Ask the children to describe the order of events, too. A chronological arrangement of an event reduces confusion and feelings of distress.

To summarize, Dr. Farchi says that parents can support their children with four simple actions: creating commitment, encouraging proactivity, asking questions that require cognitive thinking, and building a sequence of events and creating action summaries each day.

Oz Elharar, a computer science graduate, worked with two students – Kfir Salmont and Shlomo Raz Ben Dahan – to develop Tzofar (Alarm), a smart emergency system that alerts local emergency response teams, staff, and residents of security breaches in real time, enabling them to save lives.

The smart system is activated when a community’s security coordinator presses a button and records a message upon identifying a security situation. All emergency response team members receive a phone call with his recorded instructions.

The system can be used without internet access and sends messages to residents for interaction. For example, it can play, "If you are still in the vicinity, press 1" or "If you need assistance, press 2." The system’s operators receive a report of all residents still in the vicinity and those who need assistance.

The smart system comes with features such as: sending the location of a live event, and receiving location check-ins and displaying them on an interactive map.

According to Oz: "The system was piloted in Metula and surrounding kibbutzim Ma'ayan Baruch, Snir, and Shamir as the war broke out. The operators are preparing the system for replication in additional communities. It is important to know that the system can transmit directives in real time and save lives."

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During these difficult times, there are those who channel their knowledge toward good causes. 

We bring greetings from the field from Liat Tamir, a student in the Stress, Trauma and Resiliency Studies Program of Tel-Hai’s Social Work Department. 

During normal times, Liat is a student of social work, about to start her third year of study. She is on the leadership team TZUK (“Front Resilience Team”).

Since the outbreak of the war, Liat and her fellow students from the program have been providing psychological first-aid assistance on the phone to Israelis experiencing mental distress throughout the country.

Liat, along with her fellow students Amit Tal and Noga Or Dmitrianko (who served as co-leaders of the TZUK program last year) built a refresher course on Zoom for social work students, graduates, and the wider population teaching the MA’ASE (“Six C’s”) model of psychological first aid. 

These Zoom trainings provide an array of tools to ordinary people, empowering them to help their fellow citizens when they experience mental distress, and to volunteer for mental assistance wherever there is a need.

In addition, Liat and her cohorts are working together with volunteer centers in Israel, under the direction of Dr. Aviva Zrihan Weitzman from the Department of Social Work, who coordinates volunteering in Kiryat Shmona and the northern region. “We receive notifications of a particular need anywhere in Israel, and look for volunteers who will respond immediately,” says Liat.

“Thanks to the field studies,” says Liat, “I gained confidence in my ability and am able to reach out to multiple communities and create essential collaborations.”

Telephone assistance and Zoom training are accessible in all parts of the country. In addition, Liat provides targeted telephone assistance through Tel Hai College to students and college faculty.

The important message that Liat wants to convey is that given the right tools, anyone can provide mental help, and we all need to receive mental help. We need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others.

Thank you Liat, we greatly appreciate your contribution to the peace of mind that we all need so much right now.

תמונה

*Pictured: Liat (right) and Amit providing some much-needed optimism! 

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University and college buildings across the country, from Tel-Hai in the North to Sapir in the South, were illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag this evening (Tuesday) at 7:30 p.m. The initiative expresses support for the security and rescue forces, as well as all citizens and residents of the State of Israel, which is undergoing continuous fighting. 

The initiative's organizers stated: “Our hearts go out to the families of those who have been brutally murdered, wounded, kidnapped, captured, and those still missing. 

During these times, the entire country is mobilized either in combat or in strengthening the home front, and many 
faculty members and students have been called up for military service. Educational institutions want students and staff to know: “We stand with you, and we are praying for your safe return home!” May this light illuminate your path and inspire hope among all of Israel.

Eli Cohen, CEO of Tel-Hai College: "At Tel-Hai, as in many other institutions there are many students and faculty members who are currently serving in the IDF reserves. We are here living with the tension of the northern front, sending strength, praying that they return home in peace, and wishing for the end of the war and a full return to normal life.”

The higher education institutions that took part in this gesture are: Ben Gurion University of the Negev, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Bar-Ilan University, Reichman University, University of Haifa, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, The Open University of Israel, Ariel University, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem, Sapir College, SCE - Shamoon College of Engineering, Ono Academic College, Azrieli College of Engineering in Jerusalem, Hadassah Academic College Jerusalem, Efrata- college of education, Shenkar - Engineering. Design. Art., The Academic college of Law and Science, Holon Institute of Technology (HIT), Achva Academic College, AFEKA The Academic College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Beit Berl College, Braude College of Engineering, Karmiel, Kinneret Academic College, Jezreel Valley College, Safed Academic College, Western Galilee College, Tel-Hai College.

In the horrible reality we are living through, we will not accept statements or actions that justify the terrorism experienced by the State of Israel and its citizens, or that call for hatred and violence against innocent populations.

We will act decisively, in accordance with the law and the college's regulations, and through disciplinary committees. If necessary, we will suspend students who express these statements.

Please behave with tolerance and responsibility, and refrain from sharing unverified information and writing or forwarding posts that call for violence and hatred.

We share in the deep sorrow of the victims’ families. We wish the injured a full recovery, and we are praying for the speedy return of all hostages. 

Hoping for calm and quiet days,
Tel-Hai College