Logotherapy ... applied .. evolved
Living with loss
A University of Haifa logotherapy student was introduced to an elderly man. Since the death of his wife 7 years earlier, he suffered from severe depression, becoming completely withdrawn and neglected. He had met his wife at an advanced age, and shortly after they married, she was diagnosed with cancer. When she was in the hospital, he spent every day at her bedside, having long and deep conversations with her - until she finally died. He lamented to the student, that he felt he had done all he could for his beloved wife, but “Now I can do nothing for her. Nothing more”. The logotherapy student replied: “After all, you co-determine what remains after your wife. To a large extent it depends on you whether your wife leaves behind a totally broken man of whom it is said: It would have been better if he had never met her. Or, if your wife leaves behind a man, who upright goes through life, and confirms how much his life has been enriched by the love of this unique woman.”
The man responded: “For heaven’s sake, what am I doing? She did not deserve this. I do not want that at all. I do not want that after her, only a sea of tears is left behind. But, where her feet touched earthly soil, flowers of joy shall grow.” He commits to work towards rebuilding his life - for the sake of his wife.
3 years later the logotherapist meets the man again. He tells her: “You know, the pain is still there. But I know now that suffering is the price I have to pay for a unique love that I was able to experience. And that price, I pay willingly.” Then he tells her that he now regularly spends time visiting people with cancer, and how the patients appreciate talking to him.
Elisabeth Lukas
Take Responsibility - Respond to your ability
Noam Beller, from Tel Aviv, worked in global sales for eight years, and was an account manager at a human resources startup prior to October 7, 2023. At the start of the war, Beller served as a soldier in an elite reserve unit, participating in many months of intense combat. Upon returning to civilian life, he found it difficult to find work. He then had the idea of working for Wolt to stay fit and active, and earn money flexibly, but also to get his resume hand delivered to the right types of companies. Thanks to the deliveries, he had quite a few interviews and also received several job offers. He is now gratefully employed, working in between his miluim. As Beller wrote in a Linkedin post that went viral: "I believe in real contact with people, and I think you need to feel the person behind your resume. Energy speaks much more than LinkedIn buzzwords" ... "Sometimes you don't have to wait for an opportunity, but muster up the courage and act to create it."
Helping Healing
Place2Heal was founded by Judy Bogen in 2016. In 1993, Judy made Aliyah from the United Kingdom. Together with her husband Robert, she raised three children, and enjoyed a career in marketing, human resources, and general administration. In 2008, she and her family were on shlichut in Silver Spring, MD in the United States, when she was diagnosed with stage 1, grade 3 breast cancer. Judy underwent surgeries and four months of grueling chemotherapy. When she returned to Israel in 2011, she had follow up care in a Jerusalem Medical Center. While her care was outstanding and the staff caring and professional, the condition of the outpatient centers weighed heavily on her mind. Having seen how beautiful and calming centers could be from her experience abroad, she decided to bring about change here in Israel’s cancer treatment centers. Judy studied the correlation between one’s emotional state and one’s surroundings, and in 2016 established Place2Heal. “I founded Place2Heal to encourage patient-centered care and to improve the patient’s experience in the hospital. “The professional treatment in Israel is excellent, but the physical environment leaves much to be desired and I want to change that in every center that needs us,” says Judy. “My personal experience has led me on a journey that I never thought I would take. My cancer sent me on this journey, but it does not define who I am. I have taken this mission on myself and will continue to work tirelessly to improve the conditions in oncology day care units in Israeli hospitals.”
Helping Healing
Dr. Anita Shkedi and her exceptional team of personnel, addresses the profound impact of October 7th on many Israelis through a human-horse team approach. She was a pioneer in equine therapy for trauma and PTSD and came out of retirement specifically to launch a program after October 7.
Soldiers and victims of trauma are united in the presence of the horses, share precious moments that encourage relaxation, help dissolve anxieties, and lead to new positive outcomes–outcomes that help protect them from harmful physical and emotional behaviors, as well as lead to personal growth and change. Dr Shkedi dedicates her work in memory of her late son Jonathan Boyden, recognized for his bravery, courage and capability as a sniper, who was mortally wounded as a soldier during a rescue mission in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon in July 1993. Jonathan was a kind and gentle person, gifted intellectually and physically. He designed his first computer program in his last year of high school. His physical prowess culminated in him achieving track running records and becoming and Israeli cycling champion.
Music - Experience & Create & Transcend
Frankl considered music (like art, love, and nature) one of the avenues through which people connect to this higher dimension of existence, where meaning is found - what he called “self-transcendence.” He suggested that aesthetic experiences, such as listening to music, could strengthen resilience, ease existential distress, and provide a sense of fulfillment.
Today, music therapy is an increasingly recognized way of helping comfort those who are ill or strugging, to help them cope with illness and challenges. It helps healing on a phsycial level, reducing stress and improving cognitive function.
https://www.telavivfoundation.org/initiatives/soul-key-program/