The Rehabilitation Centre in Harduf
The community was established for young people who have experienced an emotional crisis, with the goal of addressing the growing number of young people facing emotional crises and difficulties. Today the community encompasses about 60 members from 18 to 38 years old. The members cope with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, anxieties, depression, complex post trauma and personality disorders.
The Healing Power of Community
• Anthroposophical worldview
considers the individual a complete being, and therefore believes in rehabilitation combining the body, soul, and spirit. We believe a person’s suffering and sickness are an opening for change, growth and the establishment of a new hope-filled life.
• Rehabilitation process
a community combining all aspects of life: residence, employment, social and leisure activities, and art. The rehabilitation is accompanied by a therapeutic framework, with individual, group, psychiatric, family, and alternative therapies.
• Green country environment
the community’s location, far from the city bustle, allows us to offer a rehabilitation process in a quiet and safe place, in a country environment close to nature, far from life’s tensions and the urban sense of isolation.
• Deep foundation for change
the community enables each individual to find partners for their life journey and alleviates loneliness, shame, and concealment. The friendships forged between members help facing the difficulties, enable an empowering conversation alongside introspection, and develop the individuals’ view of themselves and their surroundings.
The rehabilitation process at Hiram lasts 2 years. The process, combining all aspects of life in one place, allows members to adapt to an independent, full, and meaningful life.
The Rehabilitation and Therapy Process
The rehabilitative and therapeutic conversation at Hiram is based on sharing, trust, bilaterality, respect, and focusing on the individual as a complete person with strengths, healthy parts, talents, and skills alongside difficulties, hardships, and pain.
In the first phase
all aspects of life are included in the community. The holistic approach allows the staff to get to know each member deeply so that they can help the member get to know themselves and rehabilitate their life in a full and comprehensive manner.
In later phases
members connect with people outside the community in preparation for the next step of their rehabilitation process. The Hiram staff works with rehabilitative staff at various follow-up programs, to assist members in transitioning to the next phase of their rehabilitation after leaving the community.
Alternative Therapy
Alongside the individual therapy we offer we offer an alternative therapy framework (at additional cost) aimed at advancing and supporting the rehabilitation process using diverse therapeutic tools. The framework includes acupuncture, shiatzu, art therapy, movement therapy, dog therapy, riding therapy, reflexology, bibliotherapy and more.
The Day to Day
The Daily Agenda
• 7:10 – wake up
• 8:00-13:00 – Hiram workshops
• 13:15-14:00 – joint lunch
• 14:00-16:00 – rest / individual therapy
• 16:00-18:30 – community discussions, group activities and extracurricular activities
• 19:15-20:00 – joint dinner
• 20:00-22:00 – free time
Weekend Activities
The members are invited to stay for the weekend or choose external activities. A weekend staff is available and conducts a festive Shabbat meal, and members can take walks, hold discussions, play music and games, and attend cultural activities in the city.
Holidays
Holidays are celebrated together in the community. In advance of each holiday a team with members and staff is put together to plan the holiday. Members can stay for holidays or choose external activities.
Trips
Twice a year the community goes on a 4-day trip in different areas in the country. These trips are important for building relationships between members. The opportunity to be in a different space, outside their comfort zone, enables different interactions through which the members discover new facets of themselves and their relationships with the other members.
Leisure Activities, Talks and Extracurricular Activities
The second part of the day includes leisure activities, group discussions and other extracurricular activities to maintain continuous occupation. Activities include yoga, drawing, movement, drama, cooking and nutrition, and an art space with basket weaving, knitting, music, and more. In addition, during the week there are mandatory group discussions as well as weekly small therapy groups that meet for intimate discussion about topics of interest to the members, as part of the communal rehabilitation process.
Residence
The living quarters are in an aesthetic, well-kept environment with comfortable rooms in wood cabins or studio apartments. All rooms are furnished and well-equipped. There are single and double rooms.
The Staff
The staff is comprised of social workers with a first or second degree. The meetings between staff and members are down-to-earth, transcending boundaries, and based on a healing approach that respects each person’s independence and puts the person, not the sickness, in the centre, and includes the member in planning the rehabilitation and in decision-making. The staff also includes counselors, a psychiatrist, a house mother, and a family therapist.
The staff work is based on openness, commitment, and deep friendship. The close, daily encounter with emotional hardship moves the staff to examine their own lives and guides them to deal with the parts of themselves and their lives that seek change. The staff must have the ability to self-reflect and recognize weaknesses, and the willingness to undergo change like the members.
The Three Step Absorption Process:
1.Phone inquiry and initial inquiry form
2.Participation in an “open day”, providing information about the community, a tour and a personal conversation
3.A 5-day tryout that allows the candidate to experience the community, work, and leisure. After the tryout there is an intake process with 2 staff members
After the tryout a mutual decision is made about joining the community. The absorption process may take several months
