Chemla

About Chemla

The compassion program Chemla is a therapeutic-educational intervention program for parents who have difficulties parenting, designed mainly for physically and emotionally abusive parents. The goal of the program is to improve parenting skills and thereby end cases of child abuse.

The program is based on the compassion program founded in the United States by Steven Stosny, a clinical psychologist and domestic violence specialist. In the late 1990’s, A Home for Every Child and the Schusterman Family Foundation introduced this program in Israel as a parents’ treatment tool at the Schusterman Emergency Center in Jerusalem. It later expanded to other emergency centers nationwide and then to the social services departments in local authorities, and has been operating successfully for many years.

The program seeks to help its participants alter their violent and abusive behavior into positive behavior towards their family members, thereby ending cases of maltreatment and abuse of children or other family members. The goal is to improve parent-child bonding and relationships, to empower and rehabilitate parents, to promote benevolent parenting and parental responsibility, to ensure the children’s safety, normal development, and well-being and to prevent the removal of children from their home.

The program is a short-term group workshop operating once a week for three to four months. Each workshop includes a series of 12-16 group sessions guided by a team of skilled and professional instructors. The intervention tools are both educational and therapeutic. To educate – during the meetings, the parents are informed about child raising, child development and parenting. To treat – we practice emotional processing with the parents. This is a training course in essence involving exercises with and without the group; including written assignments given as homework. 30 minutes of each workshop are dedicated to small group practice.

Staff of the Center

Meital Binyamin (District)

Head: Dafna Hillel Address:  Binyamin Gate Branches: Ma’ale Adumim, Jordan Valley, Na’ala Areas of activity: Binyamin settlements, Beit El, the Jordan Valley, Ma’ale Ephraim, Givat

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group of people wearing white and orange backpacks walking on gray concrete pavement during daytime

Meital Beit Shemesh

Head: Ayala Israeli Keller Address: Witzo Alley 3, Beit Shemesh Extensions: Beitar Ilit, Gush Etzion Activity areas: Beitar Ilit, Gush Etzion EMAIL: mercaz @bily.org.il

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three children sitting on grass

Meital Lod

Head: Tali Menachemi Levy Address: Ephraim Luzon 13/B, Lod Branches: Modi’in-Maccabim-Reut, Or Yehuda Areas of activity: Lod, Ramla, Modi’in-Maccabim-Reot, Sdot Dan local council, Modi’in region

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two children sitting on ground with dried leaves

Meital Petah Tikva

Head: Yael Bleich Kimelman Address: Mota Gor 5, Petah Tikva Branches: Rosh Ha’Ain, Hod Hasharon Areas of activity: Petah Tikva, Rosh Ha’Ein, Kiryat Ono, Givat

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three children holding hands standing on grasses

Meital Ashdod

Head: Efrat Tzur Address: 35 Orgim Street, 6th floor, Ashdod Branches: Rehovot, Yavne Areas of activity: Rehovot, Yavne Email: efrat@bily.org.il

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Meital Jerusalem

Head: Moshe Gross Address: Haruv Campus (Hebrew University in Jerusalem) Branches: Givat Shaul (Orthodox branch), Campus Haruv (Hebrew University in Jerusalem), Yad Harutzim 4, Talpiot

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three children holding hands standing on grasses

Meital Centers

Meital centers are therapeutic centers designed to treat sexual abuse in children and their families. The centers treat both children who have suffered sexual abuse

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