Dr. Danieli counsels Holocaust survivors and their families

NEW YORK, July 12, 2013, Dr. Yael Danieli, Co-Founder, Former President and Senior Representative of the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, has been recognized by Worldwide Who’s Who for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in psychology.

Dr. Danieli has 40 years of professional experience, with 30 years as a co-founder, former president and senior representative of Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children. Over the years, she has become an expert in traumatic stress psychology. On a daily basis, she works with Holocaust survivors and their children on an individual, family, group and community basis.

Dr. Danieli is a clinical psychologist in private practice, a victimologist and a traumatologist. She co-founded the Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, in the New York City area, the first such program in the world. She has done extensive psychotherapeutic work with survivors and children of survivors on individual, family, group and community bases. She has studied in-depth post-war responses and attitudes toward them, and the impact these and the Holocaust had on their lives. She has lectured and published worldwide in numerous books and journals, translated into at least 17 languages on optimal care and training for this and other victim/survivor populations, and received several awards for her work.

In 2008, Dr. Danieli was appointed advisor on Victims of Terrorism for the office of the secretary-general of the United Nations, and helped organize the first Symposium on Supporting Victims of Terrorism at the UN. In addition, she was appointed as a distinguished professor of international psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, to help build the first Ph.D. program in international psychology. She has served as consultant to the ICTY and the International Criminal Court on issues related to victims and staff care, consultant to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Rwanda government on reparations for victims, and has led ongoing Projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Promoting a Dialogue: “Democracy Cannot Be Built with the Hands of Broken Souls”), and in Northern Ireland. Dr. Danieli attributes her success to never giving up, and having a good conscience and a passion for her work. She became involved in her profession because of her growing up in Palestine. She lived through seven wars and lost several members of her family during the Holocaust.

Dr. Danieli received a doctorate in psychology from New York University in 1981. She is a founding director of The International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, a co-chair of the ISTSS Task Force, and a founding co-president of the International Network of Holocaust and Genocide Survivors and their Friends. She also serves as a senior representative to the United Nations, as well as the World Federation for Mental Health and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She is the director of psychological services at the Center for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims. In recognition of her dedication to excellence, she received an Award for Lifetime Achievement in Trauma Psychology in 2012, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies in 2002. To give back to others, she contributes to NGO Alliance and the Coalition for the International Criminal Court. In her spare time, she enjoys art, music, and theatrical performances. In years to come, Dr. Danieli intends to have her research and work and traumatic stress studies applied on a worldwide basis.