This study examines the experience of clinicians living in a terrorized society, and who treat traumatized victims of terror attacks. It focuses on their emotional reactions and coping behavior. Qualitative data, collected by means of semi-open interviews with 10 clinicians, are the main source of information. The position of the clinicians between two statuses, therapist and potential victim, is examined, in reference to its influence on the therapists’ state of mind and behavior vis-à-vis their patients. Findings indicate that clinicians stress a humanistic and sensitive approach in their work; however, they find the task of constructing a safe environment for themselves and their patients to be exceptionally difficult. They also tend to minimize use of customary professional social-support techniques. The social-anthropological concept of “liminality,” as descriptive of the therapists’ state of mind and coping behavior, is employed as a useful analytical tool.
Aharonson-Daniel, L., Waisman, Y., Dannon, Y., & Peleg, K. (2003). Epidemiology of terror related versus non-terror related traumatic injury in children. Pediatrics, 112(4), 280-284.
2.
American Psychological Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
American Psychological Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
Berger, P. L., & Luckmann, T. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books.
5.
Bleich, A., Gelkopf, M., & Solomon, Z. (2003). Exposure to terrorism, stress-related mental health symptoms, and coping behaviors among a nationally representative sample in Israel. Journal of the American Medical Association, 290(5), 612-620.
6.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
7.
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (1982). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theory and methods. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
8.
Boscarino, J. A., Figley, C. R., & Adams, R. E. (2004). Compassion fatigue following the September 11 terrorist attack: A study of secondary trauma among New York city social workers. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 6(2), 57-66.
9.
Burrell, G., & Morgan, G. (1979). Sociological paradigms and organizational analysis. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate.
10.
Collins, S., & Long, A. (2003). Too tired to care? The psychological effects of working with trauma. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 10(1), 17-27.
11.
Figley, C. R. (Ed.). (1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. New York: Brunner & Mazel.
12.
Figley, C. R. (2002). Compassion fatigue: Psychotherapist’s chronic lack of self care. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(11), 1433-1441.
13.
Grinfeld, M. J. (2003). National trauma: What are the consequences of war in the Middle East? Psychiatric Times, 20(10). Retrieved from http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p031001b.html.
14.
Henwood, K., & Nicolson, P. (1995). Qualitative research. The Psychologist, 8, 109-110.
15.
Herman, J. (1992). Trauma and recovery. New York: Basic Books, Division of Harper Collins.
16.
Hills, A. (2002). Responding to catastrophic terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 25, 245-261.
17.
Hoepfl, M. C. (1997). Choosing qualitative research: A primer for technology education researchers. Journal of Technology Education, 9(1), 47-63.
18.
Jenkins, S. R., & Baird, S. (2002). Secondary traumatic stress and vicarious trauma: A validational study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 15(5), 423-432.
19.
Johnson, S. D. (1995). Will our research hold up under scrutiny? Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 32(3), 3-6.
20.
Kimhi, S., & Shamai, M. (2004). Community resilience and the impact of stress: Adult response to Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon. Journal of Community Psychology, 32(4), 439-452.
21.
Lomsky-Feder, E., & Ben-Ari, E. (Forthcoming). Trauma, therapy and responsibility: Psychology and war in contemporary Israel. In M. Boeck, A. Rao, & M. Bolling (Eds.), The practice of war. Oxford, UK: Berghahn Books.
22.
Luzzatto, D., & Jacobson, Y. (2001). Youth graffiti as coping existential apparatus: The case of Rabin’s assassination. Journal of Youth Studies, 4(3), 353-367.
23.
Miller, L. (2003). Family therapy of terroristic trauma: Psychological syndromes and treatment strategies. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 31, 257-280.
24.
Pat-Horenchick, R. (2004). Next time it will be me [in Hebrew]. Faces, 28. Retrieved from http://www.itu.org.il/Index.asp?ArticleID=2117&CategoryID=563&Page=2.
25.
Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
26.
Pearlman, L. A., & Saakvitne, K. W. (1995). Trauma and the therapist. Countertransference and vicarious traumatization in psychotherapy with incest survivors. New York: Norton.
27.
Sabin-Farrell, R., & Turpin, G. (2003). Vicarious traumatization: Implications for the mental health of health workers? Clinical Psychology Review, 23, 449-480.
28.
Shapira, S., & Mor-Yosef, S. (2004). Terror politics and medicine: The role of leadership. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 27, 65-71.
29.
Sol, O., & Amir, M. (1999). Psychological Impact and prevalence of traumatic events in a student sample in Israel; the effect of multiple traumatic events and physical injury. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 12(1), 139-155.
30.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
31.
Turner, V. (1967). The forest of symbols: Aspects of Ndembu ritual. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
32.
Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Chicago: Aldine.
33.
Turner, V. (1985). On the edge of the bush: Anthropology as experience. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
34.
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
