Haifa: Announcement of the Study "Wounded Healers" on the Experience of Psychologists During the Genocide

SadaNews - Dozens participated yesterday, Saturday, in the launch of a new study for the Liberation Psychology Program at the "Mada al-Carmel" center, titled "Wounded Healers: A Reading of the Experience of Palestinian Psychologists in the 48 Territories During the Genocide". This is a peer-reviewed study prepared by psychotherapist Enas Awda Haj, the director of the Liberation Psychology Program at "Mada al-Carmel".

The launch was organized at the Arab Culture Association in Haifa, with wide participation from those interested in the field. Speakers included: the general director of the "Mada al-Carmel" center, Dr. Arin Hawari, study author and psychotherapist Enas Awda Haj, academic and clinical psychologist Dr. Said Shahada, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor Tony Haddad, and psychotherapist and mental health advisor Amal Khamees Jibran.

The study came in light of the Israeli war on Gaza that erupted on October 7, 2023, and lasted for two full years, amid ongoing attempts by Israeli authorities to intimidate and pursue Palestinian citizens in the country.

Enas Awda Haj stated that "the study aims to document the experience of Palestinian psychologists in the interior, against the backdrop of silencing policies during the genocide in Gaza"; she added that "the study questions how therapists deal with silencing policies while providing treatment services to those in need".

On the main findings of the study, she clarified that "the four main themes from the interviews with study participants are the feeling of losing language in describing the horror of the crime, the struggle with silencing and adopting silence as a resistant behavior that rejects the boundaries imposed by dominant policies, the sense of alienation within the society to which they belong due to the absence of their discourse in the professional environment, and their feelings in light of the ongoing genocide against part of their people, with the final theme being attempts to establish networking among themselves in light of what is happening to their people".

Clinical psychologist Dr. Mustafa Qasqasi said, "The study falls within the context of cognitive and humanitarian professional resistance in light of our difficult reality, and it addresses a segment of our society that has not been previously explored, along with its professional and humanitarian suffering. Thus, it reveals the experiences of Palestinian psychologists in a reality characterized by silencing, especially those working in Israeli frameworks".

He emphasized the importance of providing support spaces for these segments, saying, "There is a need to create nurturing and supportive spaces for these professional segments that undertake an extremely complex task of psychological treatment, as we have been living as a people with psychological trauma since the Nakba until now, and this segment plays an important role in building psychological resilience in our society".

Dr. Arin Hawari, general director of the "Mada al-Carmel" center, said during her talk to "Arabs 48," "A year ago, we issued a study on the experience of Palestinian doctors working in Israeli health centers during the genocide, documenting their treatment nature and professional challenges. Today, we continue this path by launching a new study focusing on psychologists, as we seek through this research to formulate collective action that includes various professional segments instead of treating issues as individual cases".

She explained that "the study was based on a series of interviews conducted over the past two years with psychologists, and it is the result of workshops, meetings, and in-depth collective thinking about the psychological and professional experiences that practitioners have undergone in these exceptional circumstances".

Regarding the objectives of these studies, Dr. Hawari pointed out that "since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, we have sensed an unprecedented state of fear, accompanied by a resurgence of military governance policies that Israel has not abandoned. Therefore, we attempt through these various studies to dismantle the causes of what happened and to understand the prevailing phenomenon of silence, to reach outcomes that contribute to enhancing popular struggle across its various sectors and to foresee future outcomes that ensure the restoration of our movement and influence that we once had".

Source: Arabs 48