The Israeli-Polish Mental Health Association: Its History and Activities

The Israeli-Polish Mental Health Association (IPMHA) was founded in 2000. It is a unique organization as it is not only one of the many associations for mental health professionals but also a platform for people from distant countries who share an important and traumatic past. IPMHA members have been engaged in studies of consequences of massive trauma, intergenerational transmission of trauma and help for trauma survivors. Keeping in mind the obligation of mental health professions to contribute to an enlightened and tolerant society, the IPMHA members have been trying to deal with "the past in the present," investigating the roots of the harm caused by racial and ethnic hatred, anti-Semitism and other forms of social prejudice. The IPMHA activities included symposia with discussions facilitated by the use of the dynamic group formula. Some of the materials presented in the meetings were published in Polish professional journals. This article reports on the activities of the IPMHA with special focus on the accompanying emotionally loaded problems.