Alumni Spotlight

Anna-Lisa Klages, IsraAID Germany art therapist & training instructor 
 

Before I entered the Crisis and Trauma program, I had lived and worked for 15 months at an orphanage in Nicaragua. I was there as art therapist, providing mainly individual, but also systematic, therapy to children and adolescents living in the orphanage. The majority of my small and not-so-small-anymore patients were survivors of physical or sexual abuse or neglect, or had lived on the streets in extreme poverty.

Prior to moving to Nicaragua I spent three months as an intern at the National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bangalore, India. While in India, I learned a lot about the caste-system, and together with my fellow interns developed a program that was designed to help former child laborers, members of the Dalits caste, to creatively ventilate their emotions and feelings in a safe way.

Working with traumatized children and youth made me understand much that I had not before. Therefore, my initial wish in continuing my education, was to specialize in crisis and trauma studies and then eventually proceed to become a certified trauma therapist.

The crisis and trauma program deepened and expanded my knowledge and understanding of trauma and the influences of stress upon societies. Currently, I work for IsraAID Germany, both as an art therapist with refugee children and adolescents and as trauma training instructor. We develop and execute three-hour workshops on post-traumatic stress, resilience, coping styles, artistic and creative interventions, and other trauma-related topics to equip employees working with traumatized and/or vulnerable individuals with relevant information and hands-on knowledge.

In addition to my work with IsraAID, I work for Inspiration Arts for Humanities, an NGO that understands the arts to be a catalyst for effective social change. As the International Projects manager, I am responsible for the development of new projects in collaboration with partner organizations, the contextualization thereof, and the coordination of initiatives from afar. The skills gained in Dr. Guy Shilo’s project development and management class have been crucial to my work here.

Prof. Einat Peled’s Qualitative Research class was an eye-opener to me, especially with regard to research paradigms. However, the class also helped me understand how people construct their reality and narrative. Dr. Yossi Korazim-Kőrösy’s class on ‘Social Policy Aspects of Coping with Long-Term Stress’ and Dr. Mike Naftali’s course on the ‘Theory and Practice of Advancing community Based Interventions in Crisis and Development Settings – A Glocal Perspective’ not only enriched my scholastic experience but gently pushed me towards shifting my focus from the micro – the one-on-one level – to the meso- and macro levels regarding my own work.

Initially I wanted to work with individual people, focusing on their particular challenges. Throughout the course of the program, however, I came to conclusion that many individual coping styles are responses to challenges at societal levels, and at times remain latent, unrecognized and therefore untouched. The crisis and trauma program opened my eyes and stimulated my growing interest in understanding the mechanisms and processes involved in the perception of crises and the impact of trauma. The insights gained in the coursework influence my day-to-day work and my wish to do further research on the subject matter.