The mission of the Hebrew University Center for Trauma Recovery is to make effective trauma treatment methods accessible to clinicians in the public health system and to the general public. The center works to implement the gold standard of trauma care within the public health system, ensuring ongoing development in the field of mental health within the public health system and raising public awareness of effective trauma treatment options.
We aim to transform the crisis experienced by Israeli society on October 7th into an opportunity for growth that will enable healing and recovery.

There is hope

There are proven, evidence-based treatments for PTSD and related disorders that have been demonstrated to significantly reduce trauma-related symptoms and improve quality of life. Clinical Practice Guidelines from leading international organizations -the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), the American Psychological Association (APA), the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and professional organizations in Australia- recommend trauma-focused treatments as the gold standard of care. 
However, many clinicians in Israel are not yet trained in these treatments, which limits access to effective care. While important efforts are underway to address this gap, there is still a need to expand access to these treatments in Israel. 

Healing a nation

The events of October 7th and the subsequent conflict have caused a national trauma in Israel. While many individuals were directly exposed to trauma on that day or during the war, countless others, such as evacuees, family members, and close friends, have experienced secondary trauma. It is estimated that 25-50% of those affected will develop mental health challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, complex grief, and difficulties in social, marital, and occupational adjustment.
These events have intensified an existing mental health crisis in Israel, already characterized by long waitlists for psychotherapy and limited access to effective treatments.

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 From Emergency Response to a Sustainable, Long-Term Approach

Immediately following the events of October 7th, Prof. Jonathan Huppert mobilized to create an initial response to the need for trauma treatment training. For over six months, weekly virtual sessions with international mental health experts were held, with thousands of clinicians attending live and many more viewing the recordings. An initial call for interest in training yielded over 800 public sector therapists seeking specialized training.
Later, throughout 2024, and in order to establish a sustainable institutional response to the need for effective trauma treatments, Prof. Jonathan Huppert founded the Center for Trauma Recovery at the Hebrew University.

Watch a webinar here where Prof. Huppert, in collaboration with American Friends, shares his personal perspective on the establishment of the center.


Professor Jonathan Huppert
Professor of Clinical Psychology, Founder and Head of the Center for Trauma Recovery
Professor Huppert has been studying CBT for 30 years and is an international expert in the field. Over the last 10 years, he has been working on the use of technology to make CBT treatments more efficient and accessible. In addition, he is an expert in interventions for PTSD. He has collaborated closely with Prof. Edna Foa of the University of Pennsylvania, a world expert and developer of Prolonged Exposure for PTSD treatment.

For the last 8 years, Prof. Huppert and his Laboratory for the Study and Treatment of Mental Health and Well-Being have collaborated with the Ministry of Health to work on disseminating evidence-based treatments for anxiety and depression to the public sector outpatient treatment clinics, mainly via the HMOs. In addition, infrastructure was built to track patient symptoms through completion of valid, digital questionnaires, and oversight of clinicians and supervisors with weekly and monthly meetings. 

Since 2019, and even before the Center was formally established, three cohorts of mental health professionals across the country have been trained through this collaboration, in partnership with all four health funds.

Immediately after October 7th, Prof. Huppert joined the national effort to address the urgent need for trauma treatment. He worked with communities from the Gaza Envelope who were temporarily housed in hotels and provided lectures and trainings to hundreds of clinicians nationwide. As the work expanded, and out of a commitment to supporting the public mental health system in a structured and long-term manner -especially at this time- Prof. Huppert founded the Trauma Recovery Center at the Hebrew University. His goal is to establish a gold standard of care within the public mental health system and to train clinicians in evidence-based, first-line trauma treatments recognized internationally.

What's new?

11/11/2025
Prof. Yonatan Huppert Participated in the Annual Conference of the Jewish Federations of North America
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