and here's my official "statement of intent".. yeah, right, like i'm actually going to get in... but hey, i had to try, right? :)

I am applying to the direct doctoral program because I want to “go the distance.”  I want the maximum amount of schooling and training.  I want to have, following the completion of my dissertation, the widest variety of options available to me.  My primary area of interest and expertise is trauma psychology and resilience, and I have investigated this phenomenon in children from multiple-risk families, the elderly, and individuals who have suffered personal loss.  I created my own major in college, proposing a four-year course of study I titled “Human Resilience Studies.”  I took courses in psychology, sociology, Jewish history, religious studies, anthropology, and philosophy – all aimed at understanding the human psyche and spirit from different angles, and bringing the array of perspectives together into a cohesive whole.

For my final project, the culmination of four years of studying resilience from a theoretical perspective, I chose to enter the clinical realm.  I spent over eighty hours interviewing twenty survivors of the Holocaust, asking them about their lives before, during, and after the Holocaust.  I focused on their coping strategies, conceptualizations of memory, identity formation, and construction of their life narratives.  My undergraduate honors thesis was ultimately published by my university.  I am also currently the co-primary investigator of a study extending this research, exploring the relationship between the extent of trauma suffered and clarity of memory, and subsequent physical health and cognitive functioning.  I believe that the greatest lessons we can learn from Holocaust survivors lie in their collective ability to flourish after tremendous adversity.  I believe, also, that these lessons can be extended to survivors of other traumas and ultimately, to our global at-risk societies.

In an attempt to test my theories and further delve into the workings of true resilience, I plan to begin work shortly as a co-investigator on a study of the coping mechanisms and post-traumatic stress symptoms (or lack thereof) of ZAKA workers.  The head of the project is a Fulbright scholar from the states who is under the supervision of Dr. Yitzchak Lvov, here in Israel.  We will be conducting interviews with members of ZAKA and their wives, attempting to determine if there is, as has been claimed, a significantly lower rate of trauma-related psychopathology in this group, and if so, what is responsible for this phenomenon.

As one can plainly see, my interest in the concept of psychological resilience holds a central place in my professional goals, and is, in fact, my abiding passion.  I hope to continue to pursue my research on resilience throughout and after completing a doctoral program.  First and foremost, I hope to be involved in on-site or acute trauma intervention, working with immediate survivors of catastrophes such as bombings, rape, or natural disasters.  I also hope to do private counseling with trauma survivors.  My overarching goal is to take my knowledge and research from the variety of contexts in which I will work, in order to weave together a new, or deeper, theory of human resilience.  I believe resilience can be taught, and I want to unlock the key to doing so.  With immediate and direct intervention, perhaps before post-traumatic stress disorder has the opportunity to set in, it may be possible to “boost” the resilience of an individual who has undergone trauma.  I want to find a way to uncover and utilize each individual’s unique capabilities in order to encourage their own resilient response techniques.

Because I am interested in all facets of trauma psychology, it is imperative that I educate myself in as much depth and breadth as possible.  As a practicing therapist, I will need a firm background in clinical techniques.  As a researcher, I will require a great deal of theoretical knowledge and understanding of experimental methods.  As an author, I will need to continue to hone my skills in literature review and professional writing.  I believe that the combined Master’s and Doctoral Program at Hebrew University will give me all of these things, and more.  I look forward to being given the chance to educate myself to the fullest, and to utilize the tremendous resources Hebrew University has to offer.