Children of Holocaust Survivors have grown up in families that were different from other families. Our parents were very different from one another, they came from different countries, backgrounds, and families, but they all survived inconceivable catastrophic experiences and shared certain characteristics as a result of such traumatic histories. What our parents experienced before we were born impacted the way… READ MORE>>
Blog
Teaching an Intensive Seminar at Haifa University Holocaust Studies Program
Posted by on February 23, 2019
I am honored to have been invited to teach at the Haifa University Holocaust Studies Program in Israel, an interdisciplinary MA program. I am looking forward to spending three intense and fascinating days between March 3-5 with an international group of students and esteemed colleagues who will discuss their empirical findings and their views on the effects of intergenerational transmission… READ MORE>>
Impressions from Today’s Meeting of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations
Posted by on February 14, 2019
Today’s program “The Fight for the Suffering Other” was the annual meeting of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO on Mental Health, and I had the great honor of moderating the discussion following the outstanding presentations by Dr. Spyros Orfanos from NYU and Dr. Cindy Veldhuis from Columbia University. The presenters addressed some of the most pressing and depressing… READ MORE>>
REMINDER: Thurs. Feb. 14/2019: Meeting of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations
Posted by on February 12, 2019
Presentation Date: 02/14/19
Location: United Nations, NYC
As co-chair of the Trauma working group in the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship to the United Nations, I have planned the annual Trauma group program scheduled for… READ MORE>>
My recent article “Holocaust Survivors as Participant Educators: Giving Space to Lived Experience of Social Trauma in Collective Memory” in now available online
Posted by on February 11, 2019
The article, written in collaboration with my colleague Elizabeth Edelstein, Vice President for Education at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, can be now accessed online by clicking on the image below: True to its mission, to be a living memorial to the Holocaust, the Museum hosts a very unique program which is lovingly… READ MORE>>
Thurs. Feb. 14/2019: Meeting of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations
Posted by on February 10, 2019
Presentation Date: 02/14/19
Location: United Nations, NYC
As co-chair of the Trauma working group in the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship to the United Nations, I have planned the annual Trauma group program scheduled for… READ MORE>>
“A League of Extraordinary Couples”: An online series of interviews about what makes relationships really work
Posted by on February 8, 2019
Recently a young woman, aware of the dysfunctional home she grew up in and determined to create a healthy and intimate relationship with her husband and a good family atmosphere for her children, asked me, “Do people who grow up in functional homes simply know how to have good relationships? How do they learn it?” Learning to communicate constructively, to… READ MORE>>
2019 International Holocaust Commemoration Day
Posted by on January 28, 2019
2019 International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust was marked today by a ceremony at the United Nations headquarters in NY, which took place at the General Assembly. The focal point emphasized by all speakers was the critical importance of Holocaust education, the lessons that need to be learned from the Holocaust, and the questions… READ MORE>>
Redemption Blues: A Documentary about the Second Generation, this week at Casa Italiana NYU
Posted by on January 28, 2019
The documentary Redemption Rules will be shown on Thursday January 31, 2019 at Casa Italiana at NYU. More information can be found by clicking on the image below: As the description of the documentary states, Redemption Blues is a film about the legacy of the Holocaust, which begins where conventional Shoah narratives leave off and traces a path forward, exploring… READ MORE>>
A Manual for Facilitators of Discussion Groups for Children of Survivors is now available on my website
Posted by on January 20, 2019
A detailed manual based on the ten-session series “Our Parents, Ourselves, Our Changing Lives” that I conducted in Boro Park is now available on my website to anyone who plans to run a similar group. The manual details the content of the session, the learning objectives, and reading material for the group facilitator and for group members, as well as… READ MORE>>
Presentation for College Interns at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Living Memorial to the Holocaust
Posted by on January 5, 2019
Presentation Date: 01/06/19
Location: Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, NY, NY 10280
Tomorrow (January 6, 2019), I will have the honor of addressing a special group of college interns who will begin to code recorded testimonies of Holocaust survivors at the Museum…. READ MORE>>
A New Year’s Reminder: Your Parents Would Have Wanted You To Be Happy
Posted by on December 30, 2018
2018 is about to depart, and I want to wish my friends and colleagues a very happy and healthy 2019! A new year is always an occasion to pause and re-evaluate, as well as to orient ourselves towards the things we want to do in the coming years, the traits we want to continue to improve or get better under… READ MORE>>
REMINDER: LAST MEETING (Dec. 31): Discussion Group (Webinar): Grief and Renewal After the Loss of a Holocaust Survivor
Posted by on December 28, 2018
A reminder that the final Webinar in the series was rescheduled and will now take place on Monday December 31/2018 beginning at 12:30 pm. More information, including how to register and how to listen to the recordings of the previous Webinars, is available at the MJHS website at https://www.mjhs.org/healing/. Irit Felsen I will be leading a six-part discussion group,… READ MORE>>
My Letter to Editor Published in The Senior Times
Posted by on December 26, 2018
My Letter to the Editor responding to an article that questioned the transmission of effects related to the Holocaust to the children of survivors (see my my blog post of Dec. 19) was published in the December print issue of The Senior Times. The issue can be downloaded from this link. I give a screenshot of my Letter below; clicking on… READ MORE>>
SAVE THE DATE: Feb. 14/2019 Meeting of the Trauma Working Group of the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship with the UN
Posted by on December 23, 2018
Presentation Date: 02/14/19
Location: United Nations, NYC
As co-chair of the Trauma working group in the NGO on Mental Health in Consultative Relationship to the United Nations, I have planned the annual Trauma group program scheduled for… READ MORE>>