Alumni Spotlight

I’m Jess Gibly, from Oregon in the United States, and I attended the Crisis and Trauma program in Fall of 2012, completing my thesis in early 2015. Before coming to Tel Aviv University, I graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and a minor in Psychology. The summer before I left for the program, I was a full time intern at a local basic services center for individuals experiencing homelessness.

I had been actively involved in social services, working with the homeless population, since I was 15, and knew I wanted to continue my education in the general field of social work. Although I was accepted to an MSW program, I chose to attend the Crisis and Trauma program instead, as my interests at that time were leaning towards international humanitarian aid, and I felt that TAU’s program was a better fit. What better place is there than Israel to learn about how to help people cope with and grow from trauma? I knew from my previous studies that Israel was on the forefront of research into trauma, and the opportunity this program would give me, to learn from experts, was a significant factor in my decision to pick this program over others.

I really enjoyed the small class sizes, and that nearly all the classes were discussion based. This really allowed us, as students, to explore in depth the topics that interested us, and understand the myriad ways trauma impacts individuals, their families, communities, and society as a whole, from the micro to the macro. The opportunity to learn from the experiences of professors who are not only experts in trauma research but also have significant direct experience in the field, was invaluable.

Although I was initially interested in getting involved in international humanitarian aid, this program, through the courses and site visits, helped show me the need for trauma-informed, direct-service interventions in one’s local community as well. Trauma is a universal experience that impacts individuals and communities everywhere, and I was inspired by the program to take what I learned there and apply to it my local community. Additionally, before the program, I had no idea where to even begin to start my own organization, but the curriculum taught me the elements of program development and gave me the know-how and tools to do so. Now my future plan is to develop an organization to support and empower individuals with serious mental illness live independently and successfully in their communities, something that is missing in my community.

I am currently an Intensive Case Manager for homeless veterans with serious mental illness, and it is safe to say that everyone on my caseload has experienced some form of trauma, from child abuse to sexual assault to war – just the experience of homelessness is significantly traumatic in itself. The Crisis and Trauma program helped me develop not only a better understanding of the direct impact trauma can have on an individuals’ thought processes, behaviors, and beliefs, but also the strength and resiliency that can come from posttraumatic growth. This knowledge helps me better support my clients and deliver compassionate, strength-based, trauma-informed care. The Evaluation of Social Services course was surprisingly impactful and gave me the tools and understanding to better assess my effectiveness in my role and suggest policy changes to my director, some of which have been adopted so that we better serve the people we work with.