Reflections After My First Week

I am a junior at Barnard College, Columbia University double majoring in psychology and history and minoring in sociology. I grew up in a reformed/secular household but I have recently felt a strong desire to learn more about Judaism and to develop a stronger Jewish identity. This leads me to my summer in Israel. I am part of CLIP Onward Israel which helped me find an internship placement at NATAL. I grew up as the daughter of a psychotherapist and I never thought I was going to follow him in his footsteps until last year when I realized how much like to talk to people and help them work through their issues in order to build a stronger and more stable base, and to strive for a more vibrant present and future. NATAL seemed like the perfect fit for me. The organization is a nonprofit which helps victims of war and terror with post traumatic stress disorder. Israel is a country that is sadly ridden with many people with this problem. I felt that applying myself to learning about therapy techniques and different issues in a place with such a unique niche of issues as it is a military state seemed like it has the potential to be an extremely enriching experience. I started my internship this past Sunday and have spent the week reading articles and newsletter, and watching videos about NATAL and post traumatic stress disorder. I am very excited to understand the different techniques used to treat post traumatic stress disorder and how each type of treatment is decided based on the individual person and the level of PTSD. The high level of interaction and respect for one another between the patients and the organization is a wonderful relationship and I look forward to begin my interviews and delve deeper into understanding the organization, psychology, and myself as I spend the next two months in Israel.