Members Only: Understanding Traumatic Invalidation and Antisemitism in Healthcare Settings:A Training for Hospital Staff

Members Only Event

The Zoom link will be in your confirmation email after you register and in reminder emails sent in the days leading up to the event.

Led by Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern, a nationally recognized trauma expert and a leading researcher on traumatic invalidation, this training is designed to help healthcare professionals recognize and respond to the psychological and institutional impacts of antisemitism and traumatic invalidation within hospital environments. Participants will gain tools to support Jewish patients and colleagues, reduce harm, and foster a more inclusive and culturally responsive workplace. The rise in antisemitism has impacted individuals across institutions, creating heightened stress, fear, and division. The workshop aims to educate health care staff about the impact of traumatic invalidation, specifically in the context of antisemitism, and to provide practical strategies for reducing harm and implementing trauma-informed practices. Participants will learn how to recognize invalidating behaviors, support affected individuals, and foster a safer, more inclusive hospital climate.

Objectives:

• Understand Trauma and Intergenerational Trauma - Examine how historical and cultural experiences of antisemitism can create a legacy of trauma that influences present-day identities, coping strategies, and vulnerabilities.

• Recognize the Impact of Rising Antisemitism on Health and Safety - Understand how the current rise in modern antisemitism contributes to fear, hypervigilance, and distress among Jewish healthcare workers and patients, and how these responses may present clinically and interpersonally.

• Define Traumatic Invalidation - Understand how invalidation can intensify traumatic experiences, and explore the impact of invalidation on trust, treatment adherence, and mental health outcomes.

• Learn Psychological Safety Strategies - Provide staff with practical tools, both for themselves and their patients, to cope with and mitigate the effects of traumatic invalidation and antisemitism.

• Create Trauma-Informed Health Care Environment - Introduce principles of a trauma-informed environment to ensure safe spaces for Jewish patients and staff.

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