They got out of Gaza.
Together, we can get
Gaza out of them.
Helping reservists and members of the armed forces
in active combat in the October 7 War
readjust to normal life, feel empowered,
and minimizes their risk for PTSD
They got out of Gaza. Together, we can get
Gaza out of them.
Helping reservists and members of the armed forces in active combat in the October 7 War readjust to
normal life, feel empowered,
and minimizes their risk for PTSD
The brutal attack on Israel on October 7,
seen by many as Israel’s 9/11, has led to a national mega-crisis,
with 300,000 reservists called into action in a matter of days.
It was a callup on an unprecedented scale.
Many of them will suffer from trauma and PTSD if they do not receive timely treatment!
The brutal attack on Israel on October 7, seen by many as Israel’s 9/11, has led to a national mega-crisis, with 300,000 reservists called into action in a matter of days. It was a callup on an unprecedented scale.
Many of them will suffer from trauma and PTSD if they do not receive timely treatment!
In response, the Protective Partnership
has developed a unique model:
An innovative treatment that helps soldiers readjust to normal life feel empowered, and minimizes their risk for PTSD.
In the past few weeks, hundreds of reservists from units including the Givati and Golani Infantry Brigades, the Paratroopers, Yahalom (Combat Engineering Corps) and the Armored Corps, have already come to The Villa and successfully experienced the process.
Our method was developed by Dr. Ronny Simons, senior clinical psychologist and Head of Clinical Psychology at the Protective Partnership, an expert in trauma and PTSD.
The method integrates several effective trauma therapy techniques, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which has been endorsed by the WHO and other international organizations, and other emotional regulation and relaxation techniques.
Join the hundreds of reservists and members of the armed forces who have already been to
The Villa and have experienced
this meaningful process
Attendance is free of charge
In response, the Protective Partnership has developed a unique model:
An innovative treatment that helps soldiers readjust to normal life feel empowered, and minimizes their risk for PTSD.
In the past few weeks, hundreds of reservists from units including the Givati and Golani Infantry Brigades, the Paratroopers, Yahalom (Combat Engineering Corps) and the Armored Corps, have already come to The Villa and successfully experienced the process.
Our method was developed by Dr. Ronny Simons, senior clinical psychologist and Head of Clinical Psychology at the Protective Partnership, an expert in trauma and PTSD.
The method integrates several effective trauma therapy techniques, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which has been endorsed by the WHO and other international organizations, and other emotional regulation and relaxation techniques.
Join the hundreds of reservists and members of the armed forces who have already been to The Villa and have experienced this meaningful process
Attendance is free of charge
Your donation can make a real difference!
Your donation will help the reservists and members of the armed forces who left Gaza minimize their risk for PTSD and resume their lives
Touching stories from The Villa
״Today, I can look back
at what happened in Gaza
and I’m not afraid"
I’ve lost 14 friends since October 7. I heard about The Villa from my commanding officer. I came because I didn’t want to develop PTSD. The method they use there is very special. It’s something I never knew about before. Very slowly, I surrendered to the process, and I felt stronger. They also gave us tools to practice at home. And it works. Thanks to the day at The Villa, my recollection of what happened has faded, like it’s somewhere at the back of an old photo album.
Tarekegn Mengesha
36, Be’er Yaacov | Combat soldier, Givati Brigade
157 days in Gaza
״The Villa helped me find
my pulse again."
The Villa helped me find my pulse again. To feel, normally. It helped me get unstuck from my perspective and look at my thoughts and feelings without the “noise”. That day at The Villa made me feel in control of what I went through in Gaza, without the memories controlling me. This is the greatest gift I could give myself. To accept what had happened, take responsibility, and understand that no one else could do the work for me. And thank God, thanks to all the help we got at The Villa, I felt that I have mobilized new tools. This is definitely one of the best decisions we made together as a team.
Raphael Bitton
29, Tel Aviv | Combat soldier, Givati Reconnaissance Platoon
98 days in Gaza
״At last, I can sleep through the night. I feel a huge sense of relief."
I came to The Villa on a friend’s recommendation. I connected to the method and the team right away. The techniques we were taught did the job. Now, when I look back at what happened in Gaza, it’s like watching from the sidelines without all that scary emotional baggage. It’s like a distant memory. This is something I would like to pass on.
Dror Elimelech
50, Kfar Warburg | Combat soldier, Maglan Special Forces Unit
100 days in Gaza
Touching stories from The Villa
״Today, I can look back at what happened in Gaza and I’m not afraid"
I’ve lost 14 friends since October 7.
I heard about The Villa from my commanding officer. I came because I didn’t want to develop PTSD. The method they use there is very special. It’s something I never knew about before.
Very slowly, I surrendered to the process, and I felt stronger. They also gave us tools to practice at home. And it works. Thanks to the day at The Villa, my recollection of what happened has faded, like it’s somewhere at the back of an old photo album.
Tarekegn Mengesha
36, Be’er Yaacov | Combat soldier, Givati Brigade
157 days in Gaza
״The Villa helped me
find my pulse again."
The Villa helped me find my pulse again. To feel, normally. It helped me get unstuck from my perspective and look at my thoughts and feelings without the “noise”. That day at The Villa made me feel in control of what I went through in Gaza, without the memories controlling me.
This is the greatest gift I could give myself. To accept what had happened, take responsibility, and understand that no one else could do the work for me. And thank God, thanks to all the help we got at The Villa, I felt that I have mobilized new tools.
This is definitely one of the best decisions we made together as a team.
Raphael Bitton
29, Tel Aviv | Combat soldier, Givati Reconnaissance Platoon
98 days in Gaza
FAQs from reservists
Ask Dr. Ronny Simons
"What’s the point of digging into the terrible things I went through in Gaza? I’d rather put it all aside and get on with my life."
The problem is that even if we want to put a tough or unpleasant experience aside, there’s no guarantee, or, more accurately, it’s unlikely that it will stop upsetting us in one way or another. Your thoughts can go there, feelings can come up, there can be physical sensations or problems. For as long as we carry around something we haven’t resolved it will keep on troubling us, and even if we feel we have succeeded in putting it aside, it can always bubble up, overwhelm us and impact us at some point I the future – usually at the least convenient moment.
"I prefer to keep it all inside and not let it show."
When we keep everything inside, it stews and keeps on festering. It’s a little like taking a bottle of soda, plugging it with a finger and then shaking it as hard as possible. The gas will fizz, and we will need to use a lot energy to keep the soda from spraying all over the place. The same thing happens when we keep everything bottled up – no pun intended. It takes a lot of emotional effort, a lot of mental energy, to keep all this noise going on inside us from bursting out. We can devote this energy to better things in life – love, learning, development, friends, hobbies, and overall, living life to its fullest and its best.
"I’m scared to even touch the things I experienced, because then it will all come up and make me feel worse."
It’s true that at first, when you open up about something painful, it can be overwhelming. But what we are actually doing is draining the “pus”. It hurts at first, but then it gets cleaner and healthier.
FAQs from reservists
Ask Dr. Ronny Simons
"What’s the point of digging into the terrible things I went through in Gaza? I’d rather put it all aside and get on with my life."
The problem is that even if we want to put a tough or unpleasant experience aside, there’s no guarantee, or, more accurately, it’s unlikely that it will stop upsetting us in one way or another. Your thoughts can go there, feelings can come up, there can be physical sensations or problems. For as long as we carry around something we haven’t resolved it will keep on troubling us, and even if we feel we have succeeded in putting it aside, it can always bubble up, overwhelm us and impact us at some point I the future-usually at the least convenient moment.
"I prefer to keep it all inside
and not let it show."