On October 8th, the Diaspora felt the tightening noose of anti-semitism – the response to an event that triggered intergenerational trauma dating back to the Holocaust. BUT, we said – it is different because now, we have the State of Israel. We rely on Israel to be our stronghold, and it always comes through. But the cost to its’ citizens is tremendous – both in terms of physical and mental health. As many have heard, the stories of severe and complicated Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicides in Israel are horrific (many Nova survivors ended their lives in the months that followed the festival; more recently, on October 10, 2025, Roei Shalev ended his life after being tortured with images and thoughts for two years).
I am a Clinical Psychologist that has worked in Manitoba for 40 years and over the past three years have studied the use of Psychedelic Medicine in the treatment of PTSD, existential anxiety, and treatment resistant depression (the three disorders qualified for legalized Psychedelic Medicine in Canada). After October 7th, I knew that these were the only types of treatments that would be effective for many of those who were exposed to the horrors of this war. I met with Dr. Sinai Oren and Pinni Baumol at the Psychedelic Medicine Conference in Tel Aviv, July 2024. At the time, they were in the process of developing the Jerusalem Resilience Center – a Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Treatment Center that could provide a short-term effective treatment protocol to those with severe PTSD. They chose ketamine as the medicine of choice because it is very safe (it is used in higher doses as an anesthetic) and it is legal – thus it could be available throughout the country. The Jerusalem Resilience Center has been operating since 2024, with a capacity of between 12-15 patients (requiring approximately 8-10 sessions). Winnipeggers were extremely generous in the summer of 2024, after a campaign to raise fund yielded $100,000.00. But clearly, this will not meet the needs of the over 500,000 people suffering from PTSD (therapy can cost upwards of $10,000 a person).
Given the fact that there are many trauma therapists throughout the country and many physicians and nurses that could potentially administer ketamine to boost the efficacy of therapy sessions, the most efficacious use of the clinic would be to offer training to mental health professionals (psychiatrists, nurses, therapists) in their ketamine-assisted psychotherapy protocol.
This past October, I travelled to Israel to attend a three-day ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training workshop at Shaarei Nefesh Clinic, along with 18 Israeli therapists specializing in PTSD treatment. The training was effective, efficient and was as high in quality as I have experienced in Canada with Psilocybin and MDMA training (at half the time spent in training, and less than a 1/4 of the cost). Those who participated left renewed with emotional energy to go forth and treat, and they were armed with tools that they knew would be much more effective than those they already had in their toolbox.
I had a few epiphanies following my training: the only way through this post-war mental health crisis will be to train therapists in Psychedelic Assisted Therapists so that we can meet the needs of: the citizens of the country who are casualties of the trauma experienced by close ones (e.g., family members, media reporters); those who were traumatized directly by war; and Therapists who have been listening to the horrors of the war experienced by their patients – now also experiencing burn-out and trauma. By offering Therapists the training that I underwent this past October, the heavy weight that is carried will be offloaded. It is as cost effective because after the training, the Therapists can go forth and treat countless other traumatized individuals – in their own clinics (many of them, from much smaller cities across the country).
We owe the people that defend our nation Refuah Shleyma. Most Federations and organizations that send money to Israel support standard building and treatment centers. Standard treatments will not meet the needs of the current crisis. Innovative approaches are necessary now, and the Jerusalem Resilience Center is positioned to do just that. If you are in the neighbourhood in Jerusalem, stop by and you can meet Dr. Oren, Pinni Baumol or one of talented professionals and see for yourselves!
To see a video of the presentation they made to sponsors this past summer, check out: https://youtu.be/ID2hfnF3hCs?si=SI5NhZNXM42LqEId
To Donate to the Jerusalem Resilience Center (tax receipt available from the Jerusalem Foundation), go to the Jerusalem Foundation website: https://jerusalemfoundation.org/donate/ After you hit DONATE, you MUST select the Jerusalem Resilience Center in the drop down menu asking for the name of the project you want to donate to.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the initiative: cathy.g.moser@gmail.com
Other links of interest:
Training Therapists in Ketamine Assisted Therapy by the Jerusalem Foundation:
https://youtu.be/4ZG-yOpqPUs?si=VroG35uA9npDI3l3
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: A Systematic Review (2022):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9207256/
Netflix Series on how the Psychedelic Medicines work to change cognition and emotions:
https://paulstamets.com/news/how-to-change-your-mind-netflix-series
Movie trailer about a research study in Israel using Psychedelics (Trip of Compassion):
https://player.vimeo.com/video/322107855?h=390215576c"
Veterans in Winnipeg – advocating for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy:
https://youtu.be/5i_2rkC4QPc?si=aFF7TRXfGsDEw2op
Movie Trailer about a Holocaust survivor who wrote about the Holocaust, but was tormented until he went to the Netherlands for LSD treatment:
?https://youtu.be/fB6KpNGv1JM?si=ipYlg7cmNb1svZ
