Dr. Ziva Stern, Clinical Psychologist
I am a bilingual licensed clinical psychologist, with a Master's Degree in Developmental Psychology (1983), a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (1995), and training in the treatment of trauma (1997). I have worked in the U.S. and in Israel, primarily with adults (ages 18 – 90+), in my private practice as well as in settings such as a university counselling center, community mental health centers, and since 2007 also with Holocaust survivors and their families at Amcha.
With over 35 years of experience, I have helped many people find new ways to understand and express the strength of their feelings, and to feel better, heal, and progress in life.
I see patients at my ground-floor office, with easy access to people with disabilities, and with plenty of parking. I also conduct therapy via Zoom, video or phone.
Education
Columbia University – MA, Developmental Psychology (1983)
Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology (MSPP) – PsyD (1995)
One Year Certificate Program in Traumatic Stress Studies, The Trauma Center, 1997
Psychodynamic Therapy
At any point in life, one can find oneself feeling very sad, nervous, scared, or somehow stuck, trying to cope with upsetting experiences. Loss, trauma, or illness can leave one feeling overwhelmed, as can transitions such as starting college, getting married, or becoming a parent. Expressing feelings in therapy, in the context of a supportive relationship with an empathic and skilled therapist, can contribute to a meaningful process of working through troubling issues.
Primary Specialties
-
Treatment of Adults with Depression
-
Treatment of Life Crisis Events
-
Treatment of Trauma Victims
-
Holocaust Survivors who were Children
-
Treatment for Children of Holocaust Survivors
Treatment of Elderly Adults
Getting old is accompanied by unique challenges that affect the various areas of a person's life. This is a period characterized by significant changes in physical health, emotional state, and personal and family relationships. In many cases, feelings of loneliness, loss, or insignificance may arise, alongside dealing with changes in roles in the family, retirement from work, and loss of the sense of independence.
Emotional challenges in old age:
· Coping with loss: bereavement of spouses, close friends or other family members, and sometimes loss of physical function.
· Changes in self-identity: transition from active roles and leadership to a sense of dependence or inaction.
· Feelings of loneliness: reduction in social support circles following physical, emotional and geographical changes.
· Anxiety and depression: feelings of uncertainty about the future, health concerns or mental crises following traumatic events.
· Coping with chronic illnesses: direct impact on emotional and functional status.
Treatment of Adults with Depression
Depression is a mental condition that is accompanied by persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness, hopelessness, and decreased energy and motivation. For adults, depression can be the result of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. Often, situations such as breakups, job changes, loss of meaning, or difficulties in relationships can be triggers for the onset of depression.
In addition, depression may manifest itself in a variety of ways such as difficulty sleeping, chronic fatigue, decreased daily functioning, feelings of worthlessness, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. It is important to note that depression is not just a passing state of low mood, but a significant disorder that requires personalized treatment.
Challenges in treating depression:
· Feelings of loneliness and social isolation: Many people with depression experience a disconnection from their support systems.
· Lack of motivation: Depression can sometimes make it difficult for the patient to seek help or believe in the ability to change.
· Difficulties in daily functioning: Impact on career, interpersonal relationships, and physical health.
· Associated anxiety: Depression may be accompanied by feelings of increased anxiety and restlessness.
· Stigma: Feelings of shame or fear of sharing one's mental suffering with others.
Treatment of Life Crisis Events
Life crisis therapy focuses on supporting people during periods of personal change and distress, caused by events such as loss, illness, divorce, layoffs, or other crisis situations.
Life crises are often characterized by feelings of anxiety, depression, confusion, emotional exhaustion, and sometimes even feelings of hopelessness or low self-esteem. Life crises can bring about a sudden and significant change in lifestyle and undermine a sense of stability and control. Common symptoms include sleep problems, changes in appetite, difficulty concentrating, and impairment in daily functioning. Crises can also cause conflicts in relationships and affect a person's social and professional skills.
Crisis therapy provides a safe space to express feelings and explore ways to cope. Therapy can help identify negative thinking patterns and build more positive thinking patterns. The therapist helps the client develop skills to cope with stress and manage emotions effectively. The process also includes emotional support, encouragement to develop positive relationships, and dealing with practical aspects of the situation.
Through psychological therapy, people can improve their coping skills, build resilience, and regain a sense of control over their lives, despite the challenges the situation poses.
Treatment of Trauma Victims
Life in the State of Israel today is full of uncertainty and insecurity, and many people are often exposed to difficult events that undermine their mental and physical security.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
Psychological damage that occurs following exposure to a traumatic event, in which there was a real or imagined danger to a person's life or to the integrity of the body or mind. Even if the danger did not materialize - for example, an accident in which there were no casualties - the event can change the entire mental mechanism. An event may become traumatic, especially if it happened unexpectedly and was uncontrollable.
This is a complex mechanism: the reaction to a traumatic event while it is happening is often helplessness or extreme fear - this is of course a normal and correct reaction of the body and mind. However, in certain cases this reaction becomes fixed and continues even after the event has ended, creating post-traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms can last for many years after the actual event has ended and disrupt the entire course of life.
Post-traumatic stress disorder belongs to the field of anxiety disorders and is characterized by the re-experiencing of the traumatic event that creates arousal and alertness, while attempting to avoid repeating the experience.
Symptoms of re-experiencing: nightmares, intrusive memories, a feeling of re-experiencing the event, flashbacks. Excessive arousal of the body, difficulty sleeping, alertness and irritability.
Symptoms of avoidance: Avoidance of situations that may trigger anxiety – meeting certain people, objects, places associated with the traumatic memory, avoiding performing actions related to the event. Sometimes also feelings of depression, lack of energy and helplessness.
Holocaust Survivors who were Children at the Time
Holocaust survivors who are alive today experienced the Holocaust in their youth as children or adolescents. Today we know that the children of the Holocaust experienced the horror of war with great emotional intensity, despite their young age, or more accurately, especially because they were young and dependent on their parents. Depending on their age, they dealt with the separations and traumatic events at different levels of cognitive and emotional development. Clear memories do not always remain, but the traumatic childhood and especially the wounds of separation from their parents and family members are imprinted in them to this day.
Many Holocaust children were separated from their families and survived in monasteries, with the families of strangers, in hiding, in transit from place to place, or were sent to other countries. Some had to learn to hide their Jewish identity, in order to survive under a false identity. Questions of identity, loneliness, longing and anxiety occupy them throughout their lives. Memories of lost childhood resurface in child Holocaust survivors, sometimes accompanied by insecurity and confusion about their identity.
However, most of them had the impressive ability to build new and normal lives for themselves, and they usually coped with life's tasks very successfully. However, the emotional deficits that they had overcome over years of work and creativity resurfaced, against the backdrop of their retirement and other losses they experience in old age, such as the loss of spouses and friends, loss of physical and cognitive abilities, and more.
The unique experience of Holocaust survivors
Holocaust survivors carry with them particularly complex life experiences, which sometimes continue to affect their emotional, mental and physical state even many decades after the end of the war. Holocaust trauma may manifest itself in a variety of ways, including feelings of anxiety, depression, a sense of loss of meaning, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and sometimes even prolonged post-trauma.
In old age, these challenges are sometimes intensified by a sense of isolation, declining physical health, or the loss of family and friends. For some, past events resurface with great intensity later in life, which may provoke emotional pain and distress.
The therapeutic process for Holocaust survivors
The main goal in treating Holocaust survivors is to provide emotional support and tools for dealing with past experiences and present challenges, with deep respect for the patient's personal story and unique sensitivities. This process is carried out with an approach tailored to the patient's personal background, while creating a safe and quiet space in which a sense of meaning and security can be shared, processed, and strengthened.
The process of treating Holocaust survivors requires special sensitivity, personalization for each person, and a measured pace of work. The goal is to help them process past experiences without intensifying the pain, and to focus on ways to strengthen a sense of well-being and peace of mind in the present.
Treatment for Children of Holocaust Survivors
Second Generation of Holocaust Survivors
Over a million second generation Holocaust survivors and other survivors' family members live in Israel. The sons and daughters of survivors, who were born after the Holocaust, did not directly experience the horrors of the Holocaust, but the impact of the trauma their parents went through is evident in them, to one degree or another. At the same time, most of them function well and manage to live full and meaningful lives.
Second generation survivors grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust. The memory was imprinted in them through a complex process of "intergenerational transmission" of their parents' traumas, throughout their lives. This group includes people whose coping skills in all areas of life are normal and even high, but also those who have difficulty coping with their experiences as survivors' children. In light of their parents' aging and the difficulties in caring for them, and even after the death of their parents, second generation survivors can greatly benefit and support from personal care and/or contact with other second generation survivors.
Characteristics of the Second Generation of the Holocaust
Many second-generation members bear the burden of having to compensate their parents and fulfill their high expectations in their personal choices. They feel a heavy responsibility for their parents' fate and have particular difficulty coping with their old age.
There are unique characteristics of second-generation members of the Holocaust. These characteristics include difficulties in the process of separation-individuation from their parents, an increased tendency to anxiety, and sometimes experiencing depressive feelings and psychosomatic complaints.
Some second-generation members have difficulty coping with anxiety, unrelenting remorse, and numerous emotional dilemmas. Emotional coping is complex for them not only because of the traumas and losses their parents went through in the Holocaust, but also or especially in light of their parents' aging in the present. Emotional and supportive treatment for second-generation members enables emotional processing and alleviates the effects of intergenerational transfer.
