The Dual Front of Negev Therapists: Treating Trauma While Facing Personal Threats

Following the events of October 7, it became clear that the mental health system in general, and in the Bedouin society in particular, is lacking. Many Bedouin residents of the Negev were directly affected by the Hamas attack: citizens were murdered, others were wounded or kidnapped, and these events led to an increase in mental distress, exposing the scarcity of mental health services available in Arabic.

As part of the "Treating the Soul" program, Teva identified the need to professionally strengthen the community of therapists and add relevant skills for trauma treatment to the existing toolkit. The original goal was to provide cultural adaptation of therapeutic topics, but it turned out that the issue of violence against therapists was raised repeatedly, gradually becoming the core of the group's work.

Against the backdrop of this worrying phenomenon, the community of therapists from the Arab society operating within the "Tamar" organization and supported by Teva's "Treating the Soul" program has begun to formulate a professional action plan, the first of its kind, to deal with violence and threats against care professionals. The goal is to provide therapists with practical tools for dealing with risk situations, threats from patients or their family members, and maintaining professional boundaries.

"I found myself dealing with issues in therapy that I had not encountered before, and out of fear I was forced to conduct myself differently than in regular therapies and leave my internship," says Hanin Asakla, a member of the community. "I realized that we do not have an organized professional language for such situations. We know how to treat trauma, but we know less how to deal with it when the threat is directed at us. This community allows us to share, learn, and develop tools that can protect other therapists."

According to data from the Ministry of Welfare, in 2025, 444 incidents of violence against social workers in Israel were reported. Professional sources estimate that the actual number is higher, as many cases are not reported at all. In the Arab society, where violence has unfortunately become part of the daily reality, the challenge is even more complex.

According to Yarden Abarbanel, manager of the "Treating the Soul" program at Teva: "When we heard from the therapists about their daily struggle with threats and a sense of insecurity, it was clear that this is a subject that requires attention. The protocol built here can become a significant tool for many care professionals in the future."

"Tamar" Association, a leading organization that brings together Bedouin and Arab care professionals in the Negev, headed by CEO Ibrahim Abu Jaafar, was chosen to lead two projects supported by Teva: culturally adapted training in art therapy and a project providing full scholarships for psychotherapy studies for Arabic-speaking therapists.

In the "Tamar" organization, they emphasize that the goal is to create professional knowledge that can serve all care professionals working in risk situations. "Violence has become part of the reality that therapists also deal with," they say. "It is time to give them adapted tools to deal with it."