Alumni Spotlight

Anna-Maria Meier,  IVA and BRIT-Global Change Makers

Hi, I’m Anna-Maria Meier, from Germany, and I attended the MA program Crisis & Trauma at Tel Aviv University in 2015/2016.

Before joining the program, I worked as a social worker in a residential center for mothers, fathers, and children. This intensive youth welfare institution introduced me to the field of personal trauma, crisis intervention, and dysfunctional behavior. After five years working vulnerable families, my desire to specialize grew. I looked to the MA program in Crisis & Trauma at TAU as a way to learn, develop and grow.  I already felt connected to Israel, so this created a perfect combination of location and opportunity, while studying a subject that deeply interested me.

Personally, I gained a lot of new perspectives, both approaches and experiences, through year of classroom and fieldwork. Next to the more practical oriented courses (such as Dr. Ruvie Rogel’s, and the field experience in which we conducted our own projects) the course about resilience and domestic violence greatly influenced my professional posture as a social worker, especially in looking back to the youth welfare center where I had worked previously.

I remained in Israel, and now work for the Israeli Volunteer Association (IVA) and BRIT-Global Change Makers. Dr. Mike Naftali’s course about International Development introduced me to a completely new and challenging field. Working now in the field of international volunteerism – in Israel & in Uganda – let me implement the strategies, methods, and approaches I learned in the Crisis & Trauma program.

The program influenced my future plans immensely. I did not return to Germany, instead, I decided to take on the challenge of staying in Israel and work first-hand in the field I prepared for during my MA program.