The Body as a Safe Shore: Reflections from an Israeli Somatic Trauma Therapist During Three Years of War

An interactive session for therapists and other healing professionals.

In this session, Michal Shahak will share her experience of the past three years of war, speaking both as a somatic trauma therapist and personally as an Israeli. She will share the ways this conflict reshaped her life and the society around her, reflecting on how war permeates our nervous system and daily routines, and shifts our core beliefs, both bridging and fracturing our social fabric. She will offer a trauma-informed perspective based on her lived experience as an Israeli during these past three years–sharing stories, anecdotes, and observations from her clinical work and from the broader community. Participants will discuss resources and approaches that have been helpful in restoring a sense of internal safety through the body, as well as examples of successes, ongoing challenges, and the limitations and complexities of treatment in the context of prolonged war and collective trauma. The session will include time for questions and conversation.

Michal Shahak, MA, DMT, is an Israeli Senior Somatic Experiencing® (SE) Practitioner and a faculty member for the School for Body-Mind Centering® (BMC). Holding degrees in Dance and Movement Education (BA) and Dance-Movement Therapy (MA), Michal brings thirty years of global teaching and clinical experience to the fields of somatic movement and trauma recovery. She taught in BMC training programs across Europe, Brazil, and the US, and

maintains a private clinical practice in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv integrating BMC, SE, Dance-Movement Therapy, and somatic practices.