VideoTherapy Workshops

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מסלול וידאותרפיה
The Art of Healing Through Film  

The Video Therapy Center was established at the Ma'aleh Film School approximately 20 years ago, developing a unique approach to group therapy through the language of cinema.

This methodology utilizes various cinematic arts—such as writing, filming, editing, sound, and creating short films—to enable participants to explore their stories, pains, and challenges through art.

The center conducts workshops for various homogeneous groups, including young adults with special needs, at-risk youth, bereaved families, trauma survivors, the elderly, new immigrants, and more.

Participants, whether young or adult, who share common experiences, meet once a week over a period of 5-7 months. Each group is facilitated by a professional filmmaker and a therapist, accompanied by a supervisor specializing in the relevant therapeutic field (e.g., post-trauma, loss). Throughout the process, participants engage in exercises involving filming, writing, and creating short personal videos. Towards the end of the project, they collaboratively write a script, produce, and create a short narrative film based on their therapeutic journey, bringing to the screen the story they chose to tell.

The process culminates in a festive screening of the film for family, friends, and those connected to the group. With the participants' consent, Ma'aleh shares these films with other therapists, and they are also used in additional therapeutic groups. Occasionally, the films are screened to the general public.

 

In 2014, following Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Ma'aleh initiated groups for bereaved fathers, mothers, widows, and sisters. This is the film created by a group of bereaved fathers: 

 

 

 

Behind the scenes: 

 

 

After the outbreak of Operation Iron Swords, two video therapy groups were established at Ma'aleh: one for bereaved grandparents who lost a grandchild in the war, and another for bereaved mothers who lost a son, either a soldier or one who perished at the Nova festival. Both groups created poignant narrative films that conveyed their painful stories and the challenges they have faced since becoming bereaved families.

The film "Not in Our School," created by the bereaved mothers, premiered in January 2025 at the President's Residence in Jerusalem, in the presence of the participants' families and friends.

 

For more details about initiating additional groups, please contact: miribocker@maale.co.il

To donate and support the video therapy workshops, please click here:

https://www.jgive.com/new/en/usd/donation-targets/5433/about