Dr. Ofira Honig Presents at Art Therapy Roundtable with U.S. Second Lady Karen Pence

​Dr. Ofira Honig, Head of the Art Therapy Department and of the　Master Program　in　Art Therapy　in Beit Berl’s Faculty of Arts-HaMidrasha, participated in a select roundtable of experts in art therapy with U.S. Second Lady Keren Pence. The elite roundtable was organized to familiarize Mrs. Pence with the system of treatment in Israel. The second lady, an educator and artist herself, was exposed in her youth to the power and strength of Visual Art Therapy in working with children battling cancer. Since entering the White House, Mrs. Pence designated Art Therapy as the area she seeks to promote during her husband's tenure.




In addition to Dr. Honig, who represented the field of Dynamic and Influential Visual Art Therapy, Master degree programs, academization process, and national legislative team, the roundtable hosted representatives from the Israeli Association for Creative Arts Therapies (YAHAT) as well as from the fields of Psychodrama Therapy, Bibliotherapy, Dance Movement Therapy, and Drama Therapy.


Photos provided by the U.S. Embassy


Through a transformative, dynamic, experiential mode of teaching, Beit Berl’s Art Therapy Department teaches therapy through the language of art therapy: understanding interpersonal relationships, the psycho-dynamic essence of using art materials, and the significance of the products. Teaching in this manner enables our students to develop independent, critical thinking and establish their own way of functioning as art therapists.

Our Art Therapy students reflect the diverse nature of Israeli society: Arabs, Jews – secular, modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox – native Israelis as well as immigrants from Russia, Europe and Central Asia. The Department invests in Arab communities, training in isolated Arab villages, establishing centers in Arab communities, and certifying Arab supervisors from the Art Therapy community to train our Arab students in Arabic. The Art Therapy program is intense, dynamic and intimate, requiring personal, emotional and intellectual support and guidance to our 70-plus students. For more information on the Art Therapy Department, contact Dr. Ofira Honig at Ofira.honig@beitberl.ac.il.