YaHaLOM: A Rapid Intervention for Acute Stress Reactions in High-Risk Occupations

Abstract

While previous studies have examined the long-term mental health consequences of exposure to traumatic events in the military, few studies have focused on acute stress reactions (ASRs) during the mission itself. The present paper describes the development is a novel peer-based intervention created by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for use in high-stress contexts (known as the Hebrew acronym “YaHaLOM”). Following an overview of diagnostic and clinical considerations, we review the potential frameworks for developing YaHaLOM, detail the five steps of the intervention, describe implementation of YaHaLOM training in the IDF, and review examples of YaHaLOM utilization.

Keywords:

• Acute stress reaction
• combat stress reaction
• military
• immediate intervention
• peer-based intervention
• resilience training
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• Israel

Notes

1 Given the Hebrew spelling system, the 5-step intervention is written as “YaHaLOM” so that the term can be pronounced in English in the same way as it is pronounced in Hebrew; capitalization is used to highlight each step.