Freud meets Miss Rakefet in a car crash

Method:The Red Bead is an emotional intervention program in elementary schools in Israel. It follows the American Miss Kendra’s project. By using the fictional character of Miss Rakefet, the Israeli Miss Kendra, we ask children at school about adverse events in their lives. The program's goal is to help students face academic demands by reducing toxic stress.

The workshop: In our minds the day-to-day experience in the educational system is like a rollercoaster ride. In this everyday instability, we as therapists attempt to put on our “sea legs” and practice therapy.

The Red Bead program was implemented in Israel last year, just a few months before Covid-19 had broken into our lives. Our communication with the teaching staff became virtual and the caring Miss Rakefet was forced out of school. It seemed that the school system, together with the rest of the world, was undergoing a traumatic experience which left the teachers isolated, afraid, exhausted and detached. As therapists in the Red Bead program, we tried to adjust and address this traumatic life reality.

In this workshop we will share in our experiences and facilitate a dialogue about our position as therapists vis-a-vis a struggling educational system.

Danielle Warzager - Drama therapist and a graduate of the DvT program in Israel. A conductor of a therapeutic center for children with special needs and a co-conductor of the Red Bead program.

Emilie Chemla - Drama therapist and a graduate of the DvT program in Israel. She is a therapist at middle schools in the MERHAV program, sees children with special needs and is a co-conductor of the Red Bead program.