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A personal journal designed to strengthen the mental resilience of children and youth in Israel. It provides them with tools for emotional learning and helps them identify distress, using a combination of advanced therapeutic techniques.
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Vision
We want to enable children and youth to gain recognition of their distress, learn professional tools for emotional coping, identify when there is a need to seek professional help, and succeed in doing so in an easy and accessible way.
Dialogue and emotional skills are essential tools for maintaining mental health and quality of life for all of us. Yet, at a time when we need them more than ever—during adolescence, a period filled with turmoil and lacking emotional regulation—we often have nowhere to turn, and no one is truly providing us with the emotional tools needed to cope with mental distress.
The Need and Challenges
Challenges
The aftermath of recent traumatic events, such as the 7.10.23 massacre, and ongoing conflict, further intensifies the mental health challenges for children and youth. Children from kibbutzim and settlements in the south experienced the intrusion of terrorists into their place of residence, and saw terrible sights. As a result, they have been living in hotels far from their homes for four months, which has disrupted their daily lives.
Limited psychological support for children and youth facing emotional injuries, leading to worsened mental states and an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder.
1 in 5 teenagers grapple with mental disorders, a number exacerbated during the isolating and stressful times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lack of readily available emotional support for children and youth can lead to worsening mental health conditions. Early detection and immediate assistance are key to preventing the development of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues following a traumatic event.
One in five adolescents suffers from some form of mental disorder, such as anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, with the percentage of those affected having significantly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by lockdowns, stress, and isolation.
After the October 7th, 2023 massacre, and with the ongoing war showing no end in sight, these numbers are expected to be even more alarming.
There is a significant challenge in identifying children and youth in distress, providing them with swift initial support, and distributing resources effectively on a broad scale. Children and youth need tools that will strengthen their mental resilience and guide them through a process of emotional learning and distress identification.
Solution
Identify, Express, Act
The Jungle Within - An Emotional Journal
The journal is based on a combination of therapeutic tools that have been proven effective in studies for improving mental well-being, including personal journaling (expressive writing), naming, embodying, and separating emotions and feelings, providing accessible information, and guidance questionnaires (psychoeducation).
MySafeSide is a social initiative aimed at strengthening the mental resilience of children and youth, offering tools for self-help and reaching out for external support. The project combines proven therapeutic techniques with visual imagery and is available in both physical and online formats. This innovative personal journal, which uses animals to represent mental states and emotions, enables the strengthening of mental resilience, emotional learning, and the identification and tracking of distress.
The Jungle Within - An Online Journal
An emotional journal in a web format enables the identification of emotional patterns and highlights broader trends for institutions and organizations.
Feedback
Sadeh Eilat School
"Every morning begins with writing and drawing in the journal. [The children] can't put the notebook down."
Kibbutz Re'im
"The children were very happy and excited to receive the emotions journal."
"It feels like the children are gradually acquiring a new language."
From an interview with the educational director of the children of Kibbutz Re'im: "Thanks to the first activity with the journal, we [the educational staff] realized that it's difficult for the children to express their emotions and that we need to initiate activities focused on emotions and not be afraid as adults to talk about it." Since then, the director shared, she has already conducted four activities on the topic of emotions, and in the most recent activity on feelings—"they are talking much more easily about their emotions." The director also mentioned that on Memorial Day, the first since October 7th, she directed the children to write in the journal to help them cope with the difficulty.
Yevgeny Zlatopolsky
Creative Art Director
An expert in branding and advertising with extensive and diverse experience in leading advertising agencies in Israel, media organizations, and more. A graduate of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, from the Visual Communication Department.
Shira Rosenkranz
Team Facilitator
A therapist for survivors of sexual violence and PTSD/CPTSD, also engaged in training and supporting educational staff, parents, management teams, and youth. She lectures on trauma and complex trauma and how to create a culture that prevents sexual violence and promotes healthy sexuality.
Meital Shapira
Founder & CEO
Policy Advocate and Project Manager for NGOs and Social Organizations. Named one of the '40 Under 40' leading figures by the Hebrew University in 2014. Specializes in government relations and promoting social change. A key figure in leading the sexual education revolution within the Ministry of Education through her work with the Lobby for the Fight Against Sexual Violence.
Our Team
External Consulting
המרכז ליזמות וחדשנות חברתית של ישראל מיסודם של ג'וינט ישראל וקרנות הביטוח הלאומי.
מרכז חדשנות דימונה