CBN Israel, Regent, Israelis Team Up to Bring Trauma Therapy from Ukraine War to Victims of Terror Conflict

KFAR MACCABIAH, Israel –CBN Israel and Regent University are taking a unique approach to help Israelis traumatized by the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in northern Israel. It involves training Russian-speaking Israeli counselors in Israel. The key is using trauma therapy techniques learned by counselors during the Ukraine war with Russia.

After the October 7th massacre and the ensuing war, Regent University involved its International Institute of Postgraduate Education in Ukraine to train Russian-speaking counselors in Israel. Together with CBN Israel and the Israel Trauma Coalition, they came up with a plan.

“We've been seeing the same scenes and we've been feeling so connected to Israeli people in our suffering and your suffering, because it's very similar to what we experienced as a nation when we experienced a barbarian attack on our democracy, on our freedom in the middle of the 21st century. That was unbelievable,” Regent University Professor in the School of Psychology & Counseling Dr. Olya Zaporozhets said. 

Originally from Ukraine, Zaporozhets spearheaded the counseling work in Kyiv and then brought it to Israel recently. They gathered at the Maccabiah Village near Tel Aviv where Jewish athletes train and compete in the Jewish Olympics.  Here they held two two-day seminars for dozens of counselors and mental health professionals.

“(I) brought two colleagues with me from Ukraine who are trained to, educate psychologists in Immediate Stabilization Procedure (ISP), compassion fatigue, stress management and just understanding stress reactions and symptomology that we psychologists are looking at so that we can best fit our interventions to help people who are in pain and suffering and have some responses in war situations,” Zaporozhets said.

Zaporozhets says trauma from war is ongoing and the Ukrainian professionals have current experience that's valuable in the Israeli situation.

“We're so thankful, proud, honored to be here and to be able to share what we know with our, brothers, sisters, with our friends in Israel, to help them help their own. And especially now we're doing this seminar in (the) Russian language for Russian-speaking clinicians here that we've heard that almost 15 – 20% of (the) Israeli population is Russian-speaking,” she said.

Psychologist Kateryna Krylova, who is the director of the International Institute of Postgraduate Education in Kyiv, says the Israelis were eager to learn.

“We came to talk about how to help people going through stressful events – whether that's bombings or soldiers in a trench that is, both civilian and military,” Krylova told CBN News.

“They've been gracious to us, and we appreciate it. Also, Regent University made this happen. Because of the war in Ukraine, they first came to teach us, and now we're able to come to Israel and share here,” Krylova said.

Psychologist Liudmyla, who is an instructor at the Institute in Kyiv and works with both Ukrainian children and adults, shared skills intended to quickly calm trauma victims.

“By using these techniques, a victim can be stabilized in 20 minutes,” Horodianko told CBN News.

They also covered "compassion fatigue" – burnout from listening to the psychological trauma of others.

“That's why we came to share on these topics because these conditions (can) be prevented,” Horodianko said.

Max Goldenberg heads the Israel Trauma Coalition – a leading agency addressing trauma among Israelis in both the southern and northern parts of the country.

“First I want to thank our partners and friends from CBN Israel for allowing it to happen, for making it happen, for bringing a wonderful team, to help us to build, a cadre of mental health professionals in Israel that can address the trauma among the Russian-speaking audience in Israel,” Goldenberg said.

Goldenberg says one and a half million people in Israel are feeling the impact of the Iron Swords war – either because they lost family members or share connections with the hostages.

“What we need right now is practical tools that can be implemented immediately, tomorrow, during their work with patients, with the families and individuals, they support, and this is why we insisted that people that come here have a practical experience and not academic but hands-on,” Goldenberg explained.

The Russian-speaking counselors immigrated to Israel decades ago from the former Soviet Union states. Some are helping those who fled the war in Ukraine, as well as Holocaust survivors, soldiers, and others. 

“It's relevant that she (Olga) feels – not just that she has knowledge – she knows what it feels like to be on the inside of war, inside the crisis. This is important. She feels empathetic. She can understand me. And also I can understand her,” Family and Soldier Counselor, Igor Shraybman told CBN News.

“The Ukrainian girls succeeded in giving us learning days experientially, but also with a lot of experience from the field it was really powerful,” Social Worker Nina Yablonsky told CBN News.  “It not only helps, but it's really tools that you can take in an orderly way and use them immediately, but you already believe that this works.”

They credit the Immediate Stabilization Procedure (ISP) as their most valuable tool. Developed in Israel by Psychiatrist Dr. Gary Quinn, head of the EMDR Institute of Israel, Quinn volunteered to help the therapists in Ukraine at the beginning of the war and trained them how to use the ISP procedure. 

“Because all of the therapists themselves were at a very high level of stress because of the war. We rate the stress level from zero to 10, and they could be there six, seven, eight, nine, ten and had to do the ISP first to calm them down,” Quinn told CBN News.

During that time, he cites an "incredible collaboration" with Zaporozhets, Regent University, and CBN to modify and adjust the method.

“It ends up being that the product came back in better condition, much more streamlined and much more effective and efficient and in helping people,” Quinn said.

The Israeli counselors felt enriched by what they learned.

“And what really, really excited me, that we learned that an Israeli institution, the (ISP) method was born in the Land, in Jerusalem, the material was taken to Ukraine and went through a lot of trials/testing, and also a lot of research. And this is fantastic, and afterward, it came to us, with a lot of experience and adapted. This was very impressive. The days were successful,” Yablonsky said.

“It's really an excellent tool and I'll use it a lot. It's not a treatment. It brings a person back to the place where he can function – when he's under pressure, when he's trembling,” Galya Gorodetsky, an art therapist who works with Holocaust survivors, told CBN News. 

“For me, it was very practical. And this was very, very important, especially at this time (when) there is a lot of worry. That we need a lot of methods to cope with this time,” Psycho Drama and Gestalt Therapist Lena Manov, told CBN News. 

Zaporozhets says she's taking a new look at Israeli resilience back to Ukraine and mentioned a humorous, but true, Israeli saying.

“So Jewish tradition is that ‘They were trying to kill us. We survived. So, let's eat!’ And we thought that is so true! All Jewish holidays are like this, and it's something that we probably need to do more in Ukraine. ‘Yeah, they were trying to kill us. We survived. Let's eat!’ It's great. I'm taking it home,” Zaporozhets told CBN News.

She believes the key is a love for your country and fighting for the future, to leave a better legacy for your children. 

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