The House Next Door to Trauma: Learning from Holocaust Survivors How to Respond to Atrocity

Judith Hassan has written a book which will strike readers on several levels. Dedicated to the memory of her parents - her mother was a refugee from Nazi Germany - it tells of the growing understanding derived from working with Holocaust-survivors. The Holocaust brings many lessons for all of us. Hassan's particular lesson is that it is possible to help those who carry deep within them old and desperate wounds. The lesson extends to suggesting that we could do the same for others whose wounds are fresher, perhaps more accessible. And she shows us how help might reasonably be given.' - Jewish Chronicle 'This book describes what the author has learned, from working at the Shalvata Centre in London and setting up the Holocaust Survivors' Centre (HSC) next door, about the sort of services that can help those who survived the trauma of life in a Nazi concentration camp, or flight in the kindertransport, to realize their capacity for joy and contentment in the latter part of their lives.' - Jewish Quarterly 'Some suffering, like certain grief leaves scars beyond those who experience it themselves. Their children carry it in their wounded souls like secrets that are too burdensome, or nightmares that are too disturbing to be faced. It is not a matter of physical or psychological wounds, for these are not even tangible. They often escape detection from traditional medicine or therapy, emanating from experiences transmitted from one generation to the next, each equally traumatised. But for those who can recognise these wounds, as Judith Hassan does in this book rich in understanding and compassion, the pain remains vivid.' Elie Wiesel, Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Boston University How do we respond to extreme suffering? Judith Hassan faced this challenge by listening to the survivors and learning from them as the experts on their own experiences. She discovered that conventional therapeutic responses did not seem to go far enough and she has spent twenty-five years developing innovative services for survivors of the Nazi Holocaust, as well as more recent refugees from Bosnia. Judith Hassan has developed a model that addresses the trauma of individuals who faced starvation, torture and who witnessed the murder of close family members. Her book discusses the kinds of demands placed on those who work with these survivors and opens up issues for others in the field of war trauma to answer in their own particular and appropriate way. Translating the language of liberation into practice, A House Next Door to Trauma points to a different way of becoming a neighbour to all those who suffer extreme war experiences. It is clear and hopeful in the positive potential it lends to therapeutic work in this area. COVER 1 A House Next Door to Trauma: Learning from Holocaust Survivors How to Respond to Atrocity 5 Contents 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 11 PREFACE: THE 'OTHER WORLD' OF THE SURVIVORS' SUFFERING 13 PART I Facing the Dark Shadow 19 Introduction 20 Chapter 1 Opening the Door to the World of Extreme Trauma 23 Chapter 2 Personal Preparation to Confront the Dark Shadow 27 Chapter 3 The Complexity of Trauma 34 PART II Learning from Survivors How to Respond to Atrocity 65 Introduction 66 Chapter 4 Working with the Effects of Extreme Trauma 69 Chapter 5 Rethinking our Therapeutic Approaches 74 PART III A Therapeutic Model for Working with the Aftermath of Atrocity 105 Introduction 106 Chapter 6 Encounters with Survivors 109 Chapter 7 Translating Trauma into a Meaningful Therapeutic Language 136 Chapter 8 Building a Meaningful Therapeutic Service with those who have Undergone Severe Trauma 157 Chapter 9 Developing Services with Holocaust Survivors 161 PART IV Integrating Trauma 225 Introduction 226 Chapter 10 Connecting Two Worlds 227 Chapter 11 Exploring the Usefulness of the Therapeutic Services in the Lives of Survivors 233 PART V A House Next Door to Trauma: Particular and Universal Dimensions 273 Introduction 274 Chapter 12 Like a Mother with her Second Child: Work with Recent Refugees fromWar Trauma 279 Chapter 13 Developing Co-Ordinated Therapeutic Responses to War Trauma 297 Chapter 14 Closing the Final Page 305 REFERENCES 307 SUBJECT INDEX 312 AUHTOR INDEX 321 Drawing on her long-standing experience as a manager of services for refugees and survivors, Judith Hassan presents a practical guide to working with people who have lived through war trauma. She explores the particular challenges caring professionals face in supporting this group, and develops a working model that takes into account the therapist's own response to the trauma and how this impacts on the therapeutic relationship. Specific issues covered include: issues of loss, grief and mourning in relation to trauma; the role of the social, political and cultural context of the trauma; the ef