Staff Bio’s

   
Ines Adin, M.D. Tel Aviv University Medical School – is a specialist in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry.  She joined Shiluv in 1989.   She is a certified psychotherapist from the Psychoanalytic Institute and from the Jungian Institution.  Ines functions in Shiluv as both a therapist and psychiatric consultant.  Until recently, she was the clinical coordinator in the adolescent health service and the director of the Mother and Babv clinics of the Jerusalem Municipality.

 
Anita Bardin, M.S.W.  Columbia University - was Shiluv’s director for over 20 years, guiding it through its development and growth.  She is a certified family and couple therapist in both Israel and the U.S, and a certified family therapy supervisor. She teaches new supervisors in the Course for Advanced Psychotherapy at the Hebrew University.  At Shiluv, Anita has supervised in the 3-year intensive family therapy course.  She specializes in work with adolescents and couples, and has become a certified therapist in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and is a member of the Trauma Unit.
          
  Judy Baumgold, M.S.W.  Tel Aviv University - is an accredited family therapist and supervisor of family therapy and has been on the staff of Shiluv since 1982.  She specializes in couple therapy.  In addition to her clinical work, she has held administrative responsibilities at Shiluv and is currently the coordinator of the training program.  Judy teaches in the Family Therapy Program at the Hebrew University.

 
Michal Benninga, M.S.W.  Hebrew University – is an accredited family therapist and supervisor of family therapy.  She worked for 14 years as a school social worker in one of Jerusalem’s most presitigious high schools.  She also supervised social work students during their practicum.  She has specialized in work with young adults.  In her private practice, she works with bereaved families. 

 
Judy Katz-Charny, M.S.W.  University of California, Berkeley – is an accredited family therapist and supervisor.  She has been on Shiluv’s staff since 1976.  She was the former coordinator of in-service training for 10 years.  Presently she is involved in a new project which entails a family approach to incest and has published in this area.

                                            
Hayim Cohen, M.S.W. Tel Aviv University – is an accredited family therapist and supervisor.  He is responsible for the supervision of social work staffs in boarding schools for young children, under the auspices of the Joint Distribution Committee.  Hayim joined Shiluv’s staff in June 2000 and has been developing as approach that combines play therapy with family therapy.   He also coordinates the Couples’ Enrichment Unit.

 

 
  Joel Comet, Ph.D.   Ferkauf Graduate School, Yeshiva University – is a licensed clinical psychologist and head of Shiluv’s Trauma Treatment Unit.  During his work at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in N.Y. and at the Joint Distribution Committee-Israel in Jerusalem, he consults with school staff and liaison on building family-school collaboration in order to foster student scholastic achievement.  He is Shiluv’s only black belt in karate.

 
 Nitza Gilat, M.S.W.   Bar-Ilan University – is an accredited couple and family clinical therapist. She has extensive experience in working with children, individuals and couples.  She has worked for many years in mental health centers, psycho-educational service and in private practice. Nitza teaches in Shiluv’s  family therapy training program.

                           

 
Anat Goldstein, M.Ed.   Bank St. College – is an accredited family therapy supervisor and has been on Shiluv’s staff since 1989.  She is working in Shiluv’s special unit for families with incest, and is also a member of the Divorce Mediation Unit.  In addition, she serves as a director in the Educational and Youth Department of the Joint Distribution Committee-Israel, where she develops programs for working with parents and families in the Ethiopian Community.

      
Moti Kellner, M.S.W.   Washington University – is an accredited marriage and family therapist. He has worked for many years in the field of alcohol abuse specifically, and problems of addiction in general. He has been on Shiluv’s staff for over a decade.  As coordinator of Shiluv’s Brief Therapy Unit, he has trained extensively in this discipline and runs workshops for other professionals.

          Esther Koenigsberg-Ben Gigi, M.S. and Post Master's, Queens College, U.S.A.           is a certified family therapist and individual psychotherapist.  She specializes in parent counseling           and has worked for close to 20 years with youth at risk. She is a graduate of the "Dialogue"                   program of the Psychoanalytic Institute.

         
David Levinstein, M.S.W.   Bar-Ilan University- is an accredited family therapist and supervisor.  He worked for many years at the B’nei Brith Institute for Emotionally Disturbed Children and has had extensive experience in supervision in the area of children in placement and their families.  In Shiluv, in addition to being on the teaching staff, he has specialized in couple work. He also coordinates the in-service staff-training program.

                                                     
Marc Lipot­, M.D.   Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg - is a psychiatrist, working with adult patients.  He directs the Psychiatric Rehabilitation in the Community Unit  (The Jerusalem Hostel) and serves as a consultant to Shiluv.

  
Moshe Erlendur Okon, LL.B., M.A., Hebrew University, Jerusalem – is a lawyer and mediator.  He coordinates the Divorce Mediation Unit at Shiluv. He also does commercial mediation. In addition, he teaches mediation in courses given by the Israel Center for Mediation and Conflict Resolution at the Technion in Haifa.

 
Debby Porten, M.S.W.  Temple University, M.Ed., Bank St. College – is an accredited family therapy supervisor and has done extensive teaching at Shiluv and the Hebrew University for many years.  Today she is the Clinical Coordinator.  She is a member of both the Trauma and Mediation Units.

 
  Mel Tal, B.S.W. and M.A. in Special Education and American Literature – has been on Shiluv’s staff since 1985.  He worked for over 20 years in drug rehabilitation where he supervised and was the assistant director of the staff.  During his career, he directed the youth workers in the Beit Shemesh Welfare Board and has a lot of experience in work with juvenile delinquents and adult criminals.  He is a member of Shiluv’s Trauma Unit.

 
Miriam Timsit, M.S.W.   Adelphi University – is an accredited family supervisor.  She joined Shiluv’s staff in 1993 as both a staff therapist and a supervisor in the 3-year intensive family therapy course.  She teaches in the family therapy program at the Hebrew University.  She also supervises professionals throughout the city.

 
Irene Groffsky Wernik, M.S.W.   University of Michigan – is an accredited family and sex therapist. She joined Shiluv’s staff in 1987. In 1998, she became the Administrative Director and in June 2002, was appointed the new Director.  In addition to her work with families, she is a member of the Divorce Mediation Unit. She has worked in the field of sex therapy for over 20 years.

 
  Dvora Wertman, M.S.W. Hebrew University, Jerusalem - is a certified family and couple therapist and supervisor and is also certified in EMDR therapy.  She worked  for many years in a mental health clinic and today does similar work in the Benjamin Regional Council.  She supervises in the family therapy program at the Hebrew University.  She is a member of Shiluv’s Trauma Unit.

 

 

 

 

In addition to their part-time work at Shiluv, most of the staff also has private practices.

Photos: Judy Katz-Charny

 

 

    

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