Arts Therapy in the Education System at a Time of a National Disaster

Abstract

Roughly 4,000 arts therapists are employed by the Israeli education system, which enabled a rapid response in the school setting when Israel awoke on October 7, 2023 to the Hamas attacks and the national disaster that ensued. This participatory research presents the perspectives of 14 female arts therapist coordinators of therapeutic service teams working in educational settings with special needs children. In semi-structured interviews, the coordinators discussed their initial feelings, how they organized interventions over time since October 7, the challenges they faced, multicultural issues and recommendations for the future. The interviews were analyzed according to the principles of thematic analysis. Despite the collective trauma and the challenges, the findings show that the arts therapists found creative ways in the education system to provide a therapeutic response both online and through different modes of intervention. These interventions contributed to supporting the clients’ broader circles of classmates, school staff and parents.

Keywords:

• Arts therapy
• national disaster
• education system
• students
• online interventions

I believe in our arts therapists, who are very strong individuals who have close ties to the profession and a strong desire to give… little by little they will care for themselves, as well as others… through the healing power of our creative tools (from the interviews)

Literature Review

The National Disaster in Israel

On Saturday, October 7, 2023, at the end of the Sukkot holiday, southern Israel experienced the largest terror attack in the history of the country (Codish et al., 2024) which was carried out by Hamas. Around 1,200 people were killed that day and some 240 were kidnapped—including young children and the elderly—and taken into Hamas’s vast tunnel network beneath Gaza (Yadlin & Evental, 2024). Horrific attacks were planned and executed to terrorize the entire population, including sexual torture, rape, and other inhumane treatment of people (Associated Press [AP], March 4, 2024). Bodily injuries of various types were described by the teams that received the patients at Soroka University Medical Center, located in Beer-Sheva (Codish et al., 2024). A study by Levi-Belz et al. (2023) showed that there has been a broad and significant impact of the October 7 attack on the mental health of the Israeli population.

In the months since then, there has been no letup in missile strikes from the Gaza Strip but also from Lebanon. In response, approximately 330,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes since the beginning of the war (The Israel Democracy Institute [IDI], 2024). Some have no idea when they will be able to return home or what they will find. In addition, families and friends of active duty and reserve soldiers face unrelenting pain over the daily toll of dead and wounded.

In this reality, hundreds of thousands of Israeli children gradually returned to school and kindergarten after the holiday. Some remained in their localities which are still under attack, but others were sent to attend makeshift frameworks set up in the areas to which they were evacuated. We acknowledge that there are many opinions about the Israel-Palestine relationship. This article does not deal with this question, but on the ways in which arts therapists were called to provide services during this period of ongoing trauma.

Arts Therapy in the Education System in Israel

“The school setting has the advantage of reaching those who might otherwise struggle to access support” (Gordon, 2023, p. 2). This is particularly the case in Israel where roughly 4,000 arts therapists are currently employed in the educational system (Roginsky, oral communication). They work through Regional Support Centers (RSCs), which provide therapeutic services in educational settings to students with special needs. They are part of a multi-professional team, work in arts therapy with students in these frameworks, and receive professional supervision from experienced supervisors. Each team of arts therapists in the RSCs is headed by a coordinator. Hence, this entire system was and remains available to work with students who have experienced various extents of trauma. At the same time, the current national disaster has placed these therapists, who were affected themselves, in situations where they must also cope.

Dealing With Children’s Trauma in Arts Therapy

The recent literature has underscored the importance of providing an early emotional response to traumatic events. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), unlike many other disorders, usually has a clear etiology as well as a therapeutic window of opportunity (approximately 3 months) to intervene before symptoms become chronic (De Young & Kenardy, 2017). There has been increasing interest in the use of the arts to treat victims of natural disasters and wars. Several recent reviews of the literature have summarized work with adults (e.g., Bowen-Salter et al., 2022) and children (e.g., Orr, 2007). Evidence from case studies and research clearly points to the importance of arts-based interventions in developing a stronger sense of life purpose, a heightened sense of perspective, and the freedom to move forward (Mohr, 2014). Arts therapy can help build a personal narrative of the traumatic events, even when no words can begin to describe the lived experiences (Gordon, 2023; Mutch & Latai, 2019).

This participatory study describes how arts therapists in the Israeli education system provided support to students and staff dealing with the emergency situation and are still doing so. This research focuses on the work done by them to support students who have experienced varying levels of trauma. The research questions that we examined together with the coordinators focused on how they have organized their interventions over time since October 7, how they work to face challenges, and recommendations for the future.

Method

Research Design

This participatory research (Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995) was initiated by the third and fourth authors, who are national supervisors in the field of arts therapy in the Israeli education system. They are professionally responsible for all the arts therapists employed in the Special Education Division at the Israel Ministry of Education (including the coordinators), and wished to explore the work that has been done since October 7 together with their staff. They turned to two external researchers in the field of art therapy in the education system, the first and second authors, who also served as leading researchers, to ask for their assistance in conducting this study. This study was approved by the Faculty of Welfare and Health at the University of Haifa (approval # 373/23) and by the Chief Scientist at the Ministry of Education (approval #13587).

Participants

Fourteen coordinators, all Jewish women (a paper describing the experiences of the Arab coordinators in the Israeli Education System is forthcoming), aged 48–62 (M = 54), participated in the study as co-researchers. Some of them work in multi-cultural RSCs that include therapists from the Jewish and Arab societies.

We list the coordinators as co-researchers in this study because they were both participants in the study and its principal investigators (Kapitan, 2018) in various phases of this research. This study was guided by their comprehensive oversight roles that involve supervising numerous arts therapists in the education system, which provide them with a broad perspective, and making them ideal partners for describing the wide-ranging aspects of this field. These coordinators have been working as arts therapists for 18–31 years (M = 23) and in the education system for 16–30 years (M = 24). Four of them work in the south of Israel, five in the north, four in the center and one in a RSC that serves the whole country. Four said that they had no previous clinical experience with trauma, five had taken courses in the field, four had clinical experience and coursework in the field, and one had only clinical experience.

Procedures

All 68 coordinators working in RSCs in the State of Israel were asked to take part in this study. Of these, 14 contacted the researchers to express their interest. Initial contacts with the coordinators were made through the coordinators’ WhatsApp group, and through the two national supervisors who initiated this study. Consent to participate was indicated directly to the external researchers without the national supervisors knowing who had decided to take part in the study. The coordinators were invited to take an active part in the study and become co-researchers, and could decide whether they wanted their name to appear on the publication until the article was sent for publication. The co-researchers read the informed consent form and gave their verbal consent at the beginning of the interview. All the coordinators were informed of their right to withdraw from the study at any time with no negative repercussions. In the informed consent document, the co-researchers were asked to avoid providing identificatory information about the therapists they supervise, and to respect confidentiality and privacy.

The main research tool was a semi-structured in-depth interview whose guidelines were prepared by the two external researchers and the two initiating researchers. The coordinators were asked to (a) describe their work in the education system since October 7, 2023; (b) detail how they returned to work, what interventions they carried out, and what challenges they faced; (c) describe their feelings and those of the arts therapists with regard to multicultural issues; and (d) draw conclusions for the future. The in-depth interviews, scheduled and completed in November 2023, took place on Zoom and lasted approximately one hour to an hour and a half. They were conducted by the two external researchers and by two research assistants currently art therapy students on a research track. The interviews were transcribed with support from AI by the research assistants.

Credibility

The primary analysis was conducted by two senior researchers with extensive experience in qualitative methods, first independently and then together. The analysis process also involved a peer debriefing approach where all the co-researchers critically reviewed the findings. This rigorous approach ensured the credibility and robustness of the findings.

Data Analysis

The two external researchers analyzed the data according to the principles of thematic analysis (Clarke & Braun, 2014), while carefully documenting and coding the material to make it possible to locate the source of each phrase. In the first phase, that involves familiarization with the text, both external researchers reviewed three transcripts. In the second phase, the initial coding phase, they both marked topics and ideas that arose from these texts. Then they met to discuss possible themes that emerged (the third phase of analysis), and discussed disagreements. The fourth stage of scrutinizing the themes in relation to the raw materials was done by the first author, in relation to the all transcripts, while adjusting the thematic map in the case of new themes. The two external researchers conducted the fifth step of the analysis together, which involved finalizing and naming the themes. After the sixth and final stage of writing up the themes was complete, we sent a written summary to the co-researchers for their review and comments. The formulations and descriptions of the topics were adjusted based on feedback, until a consensus was reached with all the co-researchers.

In the description of the findings below, the phrase “most coordinators” refers to nine to 14 coordinators, “some therapists” refers to five to eight coordinators, and “a few coordinators” refers to one to four coordinators (Hill et al., 1997).

Findings

Initial Shock, Sadness, Pain and Guilt, Sometimes to the Point of Collapse

The initial experience after the Saturday when the disaster took place was described as one of shock. Some described very difficult events: one therapist on a team was murdered, other therapists were trapped in bomb shelters for hours with small children, sometimes without their husbands, and others lost relatives and friends and were evacuated from their homes: “One of them is a survivor of a kibbutz that was perhaps the most affected, and she was in a bomb shelter for 23 hours with two small children, and lost family, friends, and her children’s friends…”. Some of the co-researchers described feelings of guilt, sometimes simply for being alive or for the chasm between the strong desire to help in the face of a reality where they could not always provide assistance to the injured and grieving.

The therapists and coordinators experienced difficulties related to the gradual return to work. This was related to the need to function in the reality of war and air raid sirens, and care for their own families and children, sometimes in situations where the husband and/or son/daughter had been drafted, while at the same time responding to the demands of the education system, which included establishing contacts, and providing containment to clients: “A therapist who lives in a city that is subject to frequent air raid sirens and missiles… She’s busy running to the shelter with no defined educational framework, with an infant. How can she do that?” These difficulties sometimes manifested somatically as a sense of collapse, illness as a result of stress, or in the form of an increased need for supervision and support beyond what is normally provided in the system: “So I called the psychological first aid hot line… I felt that I needed to be taken care of right now, that everyone is collapsing. I called them and a fantastic woman answered and we just talked for an hour and a half.”

The First Period—The Three Days After the Attack: Educational Institutions Remain Closed

Containment and Organization Under the Guidance of the Coordinators

All the coordinators stated that in the initial period of time they were busy holding and containing the arts therapists in the RSC, and sometimes some of the educational staff as well. This was done by personal contacts by telephone with each, or in some situations even going to their homes, which was sometimes described as a strengthening factor for both parties: “In the first two weeks, I felt that apart from asking how they were doing, it was not possible to do anything, and I also felt that there was no need to do anything…”. In the next phase, most of the coordinators said that they gradually started holding online meetings with their teams, which included supervision sessions of a therapeutic nature for support, holding, ventilation and regulation. In these sessions, the coordinators also used the healing power of the arts to help the therapists process the events: “It was very difficult for me, I felt that I was very hurt and sad, but we started with a song we heard, and doing art, and really a place to talk.”

In addition, most of the coordinators described a gradual process of passing down what they were learning about working in emergencies and trauma prevention from the district supervisor to the coordinators and from there to the arts therapists and other staff members who were in daily contact with the students: “We built a model… we called it ‘Babushka’. Its goal was to provide a top-down solution for all special education workers… so that they would have tools they could use.” This took place in most of the RSCs, but in a minority of the cases certain coordinators stated that it occurred too early and did not always correspond to their needs which were different than in other places.

This knowledge sharing occurred while the therapists were all busy checking up on their clients. This was complex, and unfolded in different ways at different times, because the events were situated at the beginning of the school year before the therapists had been fully assigned to specific clients. A few coordinators described situations in which the therapists were not sufficiently emotionally available to make initial contacts with their students and could not respond to this demand from the education system.

Coping by Helping Others Cope

Since there was a delay in the resumption of regular schooling, four coordinators described the suggestions they made to the therapists in their RCS to volunteer to provide an initial therapeutic response to survivors and evacuees outside their normal hours and sometimes outside the education system. One of the coordinators took an active role and led an arts therapy initiative in a center opened in her city for many families from the settlements around Gaza Strip who had been evacuated there. Another coordinator talked about a therapist who opened the bomb shelter in her building to parents and children for joint sessions. This volunteering was a source of enormous pride among these coordinators: “Everything was voluntary, at this stage we didn’t bother ourselves with wages or hours… They were impressive and amazing overall, the whole team wanted to contribute.”

The Second Period—Roughly Three Days After the Attack: Returning to Online Interventions

Flexibility Is Necessary

During the time the education system was transitioning to online instruction, the therapists’ goal was to make contact with the clients in any way possible. The therapists’ previous experience with online arts therapy during COVID-19 lockdowns was harnessed once again here. Since the therapists did not know what kind of trauma the clients’ families had experienced, most said that they employed listening techniques, were sensitive to the families’ and children’s ability to accept help and identify their needs, and showed flexibility in responding: “One of the things that was important for us to tell them was that everybody is doing the best they can… Get in touch, say you’re here, a child who doesn’t want to be on Zoom for more than ten minutes, okay, no pressure.” This flexibility was also reflected in the differences in the therapists’ reactions: “Am I able to give something beyond my survival?…”

Continuity and Presence Using Online Therapeutic Interventions

The coordinators described how the therapists tailored the interventions to each child’s situation, and exchanged information in their group meetings on possible interventions online. Some therapists took part in class meetings online with teachers or kindergarten staff, some held one-on-one sessions online or by phone with individual children, some made special videos for the clients, and others asked parents to work with their children online: “A child in a rather low-functioning communication class which is part of an open studio… This amazing mother who sat with him and did the mediation there in such a beautiful way, it was so encouraging for the child. Every session, it was lovely.”

Working Online Was Not Always Appropriate

Similar to the pandemic period, working online was not always appropriate for certain clients. Sometimes it was difficult to get teenagers to attend online sessions, sometimes disadvantaged families found it difficult to help their children attend sessions or did not have computers or smart phones. Although most of the coordinators described attempts to assign therapists to clients based on their situation and abilities, sometimes factors related to the educational system pressured them to return to activity as fully as possible. Some therapists who were evacuated found it difficult to work online when their temporary housing consisted of only one room for their whole family. In addition, there were problems setting up work schedules: “Everybody arranges their schedule as a function of the pressure… people are working from morning to evening… the vast majority involve attempts to coordinate with families, and then adjust to cancelations and repeated rescheduling.” However, compared to the pandemic period, the coordinators were able to quickly prevent work time from encroaching on the therapists’ personal lives.

The Third Period—About Two Weeks After the Attack: Returning to the Settings

Flexibility, Creativity and Containment When Returning to the Settings

The coordinators stated that even at this stage the therapists needed to have a great deal of flexibility, given the extreme variations in working conditions in different parts of the country. Most of them said that the therapists had to find suitable spaces for therapeutic work that would let them get to the bomb shelters as quickly as possible in the case of an air raid alert. In instances where the students were evacuated and were relocated to a different part of the country, the transfer between therapists took place gradually. In a similar way, therapists who were evacuated were sometimes integrated into a new RSC and were assigned new clients. In the most severely devastated areas, some arts therapists were not emotionally able to provide support to others: “Many of our therapists experienced very, very difficult things… Some of them will not be able to work this year…”.

In certain educational settings that suffered direct hits, the therapists worked with the students on processing losses and dealing with extreme traumatic events: “We have a school… they lost many students… there wasn’t a grade in which a student wasn’t murdered, and we still haven’t talked about the students who were kidnapped, about the students who did not know immediately what had happened to them…”. In RSCs in less affected areas, there was still a need to deal with the trauma, the horror of the war and the rocket fire, and in all settings, there were students who knew people who went through very difficult experiences, and students whose relatives were serving in the army. To reach out to a wider set of students, the coordinators described sessions conducted for entire classes or in “open studios” for students: “In one school two arts therapists set up an open studio… not only for special education children but also students from other classes.” Importantly, some coordinators described instances where therapists prepared their sessions based on their trauma training but found that certain clients were not ready to deal with this issue directly.

About half of the coordinators reported engaging directly with school or kindergarten staff through explanatory work, one-on-one sessions, or in open studios, to help them process their personal experiences so that they could continue to function within the framework and respond more optimally to their students: “Everyone sits together in the studio in small groups - the whole staff, including the janitor, the guard, the secretary…” In addition, activities with parents took place in some settings to help them contain their children: “One therapist who has worked with parents was part of a panel and responded to parents’ questions.”

The situation in the country led to the need to find creative solutions to a variety of problems in the field. For example, when team members in a certain RSC could not meet, they were invited to another RSC in an area where a face-to-face meeting could be held. When some therapists could not return to work because their own children were still at home, one RSC opened a childcare space for them. In some places, therapists went to see students who had been evacuated or provided alternative settings for them: “We went to meet them at the hotel… to locate children who were entitled to special education services… meet the parents, understand what they need, the government assistance they were eligible for.”

Rigidity on the Part of the System When Returning to the Settings

By contrast to the considerable flexibility that characterized the work of the coordinators and therapists in the field, some coordinators considered that the Ministry of Education was inflexible, as reflected in unclear or irrelevant instructions:

Starting in the second month… the Ministry of Education had paperwork for reporting hours… Is online work considered work? Is someone who has very objective reasons [for working less] because she has small children and a husband in the reserves? Will she be paid, yes or no?

Many of them criticized a MOE letter that instructed all therapists to work face-to-face, even though it was not always possible.

Some coordinators reported that at times there were no spaces suitable for arts therapy in proximity to bomb shelters, which meant that the therapists sometimes had to maneuver to find a corner that had sufficient privacy for their clients. In other situations, the therapists were asked to carry out duties that were not part of their job, such as substitute teaching or handling other problems at school. In addition, they were dragged into helping beyond their normal working hours, which added to their already heavy burden. Out of flexibility and the desire to help, they found themselves working in formats that were difficult to contain:

For example, being with six special education children in a bomb shelter, each of whom is from a different class, some of whom are not your clients at all… There were six children there and five female staff members there… What exactly am I supposed to do?

From a professional point of view, the coordinators described problems protecting the therapists on their teams. This included an attempt to control the flood of information circulating in the networks on ways of working with trauma. It also included dealing with very difficult situations the therapists were placed in, sometimes without sufficient knowledge or experience: “In… (a village where several people were murdered), the therapist who works there at the school, I don’t know if she was pressured, but she was asked to work with traumatized children there, and we put a stop to it. She doesn’t have the experience…”.

The Gap and the Bridge: Multicultural Issues

Some of the coordinators expressed empathy and sensitivity to the difficulties experienced by therapists from Arab society in Israel that work with them, who besides the horror of the war also felt fear and concern for the safety of their relatives in Gaza, and a feeling that they could not express their position freely in Jewish society: “Therapists feel that they are not allowed to voice their distress… that they are not able to ask the children to express what they feel.”

Some coordinators painfully referred to the broken trust and conflicts between different sectors in Israel, which was sometimes reflected in the parents’ concerns about multicultural meetings, and at times also in the therapeutic sessions with the children: “Two weeks ago, a Druze therapist came to supervision… she said that a child had come for therapy and said that he wants to be a Shahid [Arab terrorist martyr]… what should I do?” In some places Jewish therapists said they were afraid of working with students from Arab society. Nevertheless, other coordinators saw arts therapy as a bridge that allows different opinions to be heard: “Arts therapy is also a place for connections, a place that can perhaps build something.”

Thinking About the Future

When the coordinators were asked about what they had learned during this period and their thoughts for the future, some described the strengths they discovered: the resilience and human kindness of the staff members, their flexibility and ability to adapt to therapists and clients with different needs, and the power of the arts in extreme situations: “I have a client - we have been drawing for more than 20 sessions. I feel that this is what is right… I mean, there is movement… What a blessing it is that we have a tool to work with, even with a five-year-old girl who does not speak.”

The coordinators emphasized the need to continue to train the teams in diverse ways of working with trauma, given the specific needs of different populations and regions in the country. Some also indicated that the therapists and the coordinators also need to be protected: “to acquire tools to protect ourselves. How do we really work when we are also exposed to horrors?”

At the systemic level, the participants stressed the need for a government white paper that would provide clearer instructions for an emergency: “I would really like something to come out with guidelines for what to do and especially what not to do.” Some mentioned the cooperation that intensified during the war between the arts therapists in the RSCs and the national educational psychological service, and the need to continue thinking about this relationship and how it can contribute to student wellbeing. Another coordinator talked about the importance of strengthening ties between the various RSCs and the difficulties faced by regional supervisors with large catchment areas to maintain contact with all the educational frameworks under their responsibility.

Discussion

This participatory study described the work of arts therapists in the Israeli educational system during a national disaster. Its purpose was to describe, from the point of view of the coordinators, how they have organized interventions over time since October 7, the challenges they have faced, and recommendations for the future.

The coordinators described many creative initiatives for providing a broad therapeutic response to their clients, but also to other students who needed support and assistance, through the use of interventions such as ‘class as a group’ models (Ofer-Yarom & Shamir, 2021) and the open studio (Heller, 2021), first via zoom, and later when it was safer, face to face in the educational frameworks. The findings show that the continuous presence of arts therapists in students’ routine lives, enabled a broad response to a variety of situations that arose while dealing with the collective traumatic event. The amount and the hierarchical structure of arts therapists in the Israeli education system, which groups them in organizational structures of RSCs headed by coordinators above whom are the national supervisors, allowed for the rapid operationality of this system, and the transfer of knowledge about trauma care that was necessary for therapists at that time. Consequently, a significant number of students received an initial intervention to deal with their challenging experiences. Furthermore, many therapists understood the importance of working with educational teams and parents, who are the primary container for the students, and devised diverse intervention groups for them as well. All these steps helped to contain the intensity of the trauma.

The experiences reported by the arts therapists and the coordinators were difficult and traumatic. The therapists and clients were, and still are, going through a shared trauma in the community together. These events led to situations in which the boundaries of therapy were shattered and the therapists found for example, that they had witnessed the same horrible events or were evacuated to the same new location with their clients. Baum (2014) investigated professionals working in shared traumatic realities. He suggested that they are doubly exposed: as individuals and as professionals. His findings make it clear that professionals working in a shared traumatic reality should be provided with assistance to cope with the negative self-feelings produced by their lapses in empathy. This underscores the importance for the system to make sure that therapists at all levels receive enough support and supervision to continue to function.

It is important to recall that the events took place not long after the COVID-19 epidemic, an event that was traumatic in itself. Although much was learned about special interventions at that time (Hacohen et al., 2022) and was also mentioned in detail in this study, the proximity between the events and the transition between traumatic events likely heightened the state of distress.

The coordinators noted that the strong holding and the support groups they initiated helped the therapists to be contained so that they could assist others. The literature has described support groups of this type for a variety of emergency situations, such as a support group to help healthcare and social service providers after a hurricane that was designed to increase resilience (Yuma et al., 2019). The coordinators also noted the increased acknowledgment of the value of the arts in helping to cope in these situations (e.g., Havsteen-Franklin et al., 2020). In addition, the coordinators viewed the volunteer work and the therapists’ initiatives inside and outside the education system as a factor that helped them return to work. This observation is consistent with studies on the ways benevolence promotes the resilience of the helpers themselves (e.g. Mao et al., 2019).

Practical Implications

The current study points to the enormous importance of integrating arts therapists within educational systems. These therapists can work with special education students on a regular basis, but can also provide a much broader response to students, parents and staff in times of crisis. Models such as the “class as a group” or the “open studio” make it possible to see large numbers of potential trauma victims and to make a quick assessment where assistance was necessary. Since traumas exist in a variety of situations some of which are human made while others stem from the forces of Nature, and the power of the arts has been recognized as having a unique meaning in these situations, there is potential here for a broad benevolent work. Furthermore, arts therapists need to know more about trauma care, and probably to an increasing extent globally in the future. This study also draws attention to the importance that should be given to the care and treatment of the therapists themselves in a traumatic reality, and especially in situations of trauma shared with their clients. The experience gained in Israel shows how the use of the arts helped containing and regulating the therapists.

Limitations

The main limitations of this study are related to the fact that it described an extraordinary emergency situation in terms of its complexity, its wide-ranging effects on different regions of the country, and the characteristics specific to the State of Israel. At the same time, the arts therapists deployed ways of dealing with emergencies that are likely to be applicable elsewhere. In addition, the point of view presented was that of the coordinators. Follow-up studies could explore other points of view, including the perspectives of teachers, clients and the parents.

Conclusion

This study described how arts therapists in the education system in Israel coped and worked in the wake of a national disaster that struck the country. Despite the collective trauma and the many challenges, the arts therapists found creative ways to provide a therapeutic response both online and through different modes of intervention. These interventions also contributed to supporting the clients’ broader circles of classmates, the educational staff and parents.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the co-researchers: Avishag Gil, Gali Amar Hazan, Galit Hagag Goldfein, Hamutal Amit, Ifat Weisberger, Karen Pfeffer Elly, Livnat Shwartz, Nava Frieman, Nomi Pollack Di Castro, Sigal Liscano, Sigal Peled Ovadia, Tamar Sade Dor, Tsipi Rein, Yafit Dunsky.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dafna Regev

Dafna Regev is the head of the Art Therapy Program in the School of Creative Arts Therapies and a member in the Emili Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, Israel.

Sharon Snir

Sharon Snir is a faculty member in the Art Therapy MA Program and The Interdisciplinary Research Center for Arts and Spirituality: Therapy, Education and Society at Tel Hai College, Israel.

Efrat Roginsky

Efrat Roginsky is a national supervisor in the Special Education Division of the Israel Ministry of Education, a lecturer and research fellow at the School of Creative Arts Therapies and Emily Sagol Creative Arts Therapies Research Center, University of Haifa, and a research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Arts and Spirituality: Therapy, Education and Society at Tel Hai College, Israel.

Tal Sivan

Tal Sivan is a field expert and a national supervisor in the Special Education Division of the Israel Ministry of Education.