Training and Life Journey
My path has moved between academic research, learning in the field, nature, and ancient traditions. I have worked in residential alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization and completed a clinical practicum in a psychiatric hospital. For approximately three years, I lived and studied among Indigenous communities and local healers in South America. I also spent extended periods in Buddhist monasteries and Western retreat centers. These experiences broadened the way I think about the body, meaning, community, nature, and cultural context.
Before training as a therapist, I worked for many years in gardening and ecological agriculture, and co-founded Nevateva, a therapeutic gardening farm, together with my brother. Working with gardens, ecology, and agriculture taught me to see change as a process of cultivating the conditions that allow growth.
Academic Education
• M.A. in Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Psychotherapy, University of Haifa.
• Psychotherapist Certificate, three-year Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit Psychotherapy Program, University of Haifa.
• Partial graduate studies in neuroscience (neurobiology), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; completed the program’s research requirements.
• B.A. in Psychology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Research and Professional Writing
• Co-author of a study published in 2018 in Neuropsychology Review on intelligence and obsessive-compulsive disorder: “Meta-Analysis of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.”
Author of professional articles published in Psychology Hebrit and Betipulnet:
• “Lost in Thought: Rumination from Therapeutic and Buddhist Perspectives” – an article on treating rumination through RFCBT alongside a Buddhist perspective.
• “Less Than Meets the Eye: Blind Spots in EMDR” – a critical article on EMDR.
• “Understanding Psychosis: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBTp) for Psychotic Experiences” – a review of CBT for psychosis and complementary approaches.
Trauma-Focused Treatment
• Prolonged Exposure (PE): full certification, including training and supervision, through CTSA, the official training center for the approach.
• Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): full certification, including training and supervision, through CPTforPTSD, the official training institute for the approach.
• EMDR: Levels 1 and 2 plus supervision (full training), through EMDR Consulting.
• Somatic Experiencing (SE): body-oriented trauma psychotherapy; completed three modules through SE Argentina.
• Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness (TSM): complete foundational and advanced training with David Treleaven.
• TFACT: Trauma-Focused ACT training with Russ Harris.
• Schema Therapy: introductory course through Schema Therapy Institute Australia.
CBT and Third-Wave Approaches
• Beck Institute: CBT training for depression, anxiety, and personality disorders.
• OCD: advanced course for therapists through OCD Clinic.
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT Immersion and ACT in Practice training through ACT Courses / Steven Hayes.
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): foundational course, DBT skills training, dialectical parenting guidance, and supervision in applying the approach (Ofek Institute and DBTeach).
• Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT): Levels 1 and 2 training for disorders of overcontrol.
• The Unified Protocol (UP): training through the official organization, with supervision through UPI.
Mental Health Crises, Psychosis, and Substance Use
• CBT for Psychosis (CBTp): training and supervision with Ron Unger.
• Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy (CT-R): training through the Beck Institute.
• Motivational Interviewing (MI): tools for behavioral change and addiction treatment.
• Practical experience treating acute crises in residential crisis alternatives and harm-reduction spaces supporting people in extreme states following substance use.
Physiological Regulation and Additional Approaches
• Neurofeedback: therapist training course through Bar-Ilan University.
• Biofeedback: therapist training course through Mindlife Center.
• Sleep treatment: CBT for nightmares and CBT for sleep disorders, Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
• Treatment for people affected by narcissistic and psychopathic relationships, Ogen Center.
• Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP): introductory course, University of Haifa.
Ecology, Nature, and Healing Traditions
• Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) through Gilad Margalit – Permaculture in the Galilee.
• Apprenticeship in traditional orchard cultivation with Amit Pompan.
• Sexuality: training in alternative frameworks, including men’s support work with Roi Shaham and courses through ISTA and Genesis.
• Three years of study and apprenticeship in Indigenous and shamanic healing traditions in Peru, including work alongside local healers and the study of traditional perspectives on healing and human-nature relationships.
