Example of El Hanefesh

The program connects the educational staff with mental health specialists to create a professional environment that is supportive of treatment for the students.

The following components are included in the operation of the program in the school:

Development and implementation
of the infrastructure to identify and guide students with emotional difficulties.

Providing accessible treatment
for children and teenagers with emotional difficulties, including guidance, support, and subsidy of treatment costs.

Training courses and workshops
for the educational staff in order to give them the tools to identify and support the students who need emotional treatment. Support includes guiding the students through the process of exercising available governmental rights and the therapeutic treatment.

Our Achievements

• Over 300 educational institutions participate in the program
• Over 600 therapists work within the program
• Thousands of children and teenagers received subsidized treatment and professional monitoring of their progress
• Hundreds of professional training courses by mental health professionals were held for the educational staff in participating schools

For more information, please email us at: [email protected]

Join the hundreds of therapists who work with us, providing professional, accessible treatment in schools.

Over 300 schools and educational institutions select a therapist for their students through the El HaNefesh program. Join us, and we’ll offer your services as well.

How Does it Work?

After the educational institution identifies a student who needs emotional support and selects the appropriate therapist, we filter out potential incompatibility, ensuring that the patient is suitable for you and that the referral will be as successful as possible.

After your intake process, we decide together on the nature and duration of the treatment through an appropriate treatment plan.

Throughout the entire process, you will be in direct contact with the relevant contact person at the educational institution, and follow-up will be carried out through an innovative application which is available for your use.

Let’s start working together!

To apply, please fill in your details using this link. We will get back to you within two weeks of receipt of your completed questionnaire.

El HaNefesh is available for purchase in the Ministry of Education’s GEFEN system under the heading “Pedagogical and Emotional Solutions” and is listed as program number 1795.

The program offered by GEFEN includes 2 main components:

1. Establishing a school infrastructure that promotes the emotional well-being of students
2. Offering subsidized emotional and psychological treatment

For details on how to register, click here.

Please note!
Institutions that are not eligible for the program through the GEFEN system may be added to the waiting list at this link.

The Mental Health Reform of 2015 was a game changer in the world of mental health treatment. With the enactment of the reform, the responsibility for providing mental health services was transferred from the Ministry of Health to the individual health funds, creating a single address for both physical and mental health services. The reform aims to increase the quality, availability, and accessibility of mental health services in Israel.

Since that time, it has become clear that the process of implementing the reform and making it an available and accessible resource to the public requires some adjustment, including the application of professional standards. The majority of the Israeli population still turns to private mental health treatment – incurring its high costs – due to gaps in the implementation of the reform in the health funds, the accessibility of the service, and its suitability. The waiting time for receiving mental health treatment within the framework of the reform can often exceed a year, and, in peripheral areas, it can be up to a year and a half to two years. There is an urgent need for a minimum, mandatory standard for the waiting time until a patient can begin the therapeutic process.

Yedidut Toronto is working through a variety of channels to advance the implementation of the Israeli mental health reform.

With the aim of encouraging the health funds to offer services which realistically meet the demand on the ground, Yedidut Toronto guides dozens of children and teenagers in need of therapy to exercise their rights through the reform and obtain the necessary and relevant treatment. At the same time, the organization maintains continuous contact with the experts at the Ministry of Health to formulate and apply professional standards.

In order to promote the exercise of rights and the accessibility of mental health services to the public, we collaborate with several organizations and governmental bodies, including the ‘Bizchut’ organization, the Association of Assistance Centers, ‘Beit Ham’, the Ministry of Welfare, and local municipalities.