The National School for Rehabilitation, Integration, and Recovery in Mental Health was established in 2011 at Ono Academic College and operates under the supervision and funding of the Mental Health Division, Ministry of Health. The school conducts courses and training for a variety of rehabilitation professionals working in the field of mental health rehabilitation (including professionals from various therapeutic fields, para-professional rehabilitation workers, people with lived experience, family members, and others) to advance their professional skills. The learning is based on the belief in the ability of individuals with psychiatric disabilities to recover, integrate, and live meaningful lives in their community. The rehabilitation work is based on the understanding that rehabilitative learning and knowledge development are at the core of rehabilitation practice. Therefore, in addition to courses and training, the school is involved in promoting, expanding, and marketing learning on the topic of mental health rehabilitation in Israel and worldwide. The school is also involved in monitoring, evaluating, and providing feedback on the various training programs conducted within it.

The School's Objective is to instill the values of rehabilitation, inclusion, and recovery. It aims to build, develop, and advance training and learning processes that impart knowledge, values, perceptions, and skills in the field of mental health rehabilitation, and to implement and integrate recovery-promoting interventions for individuals coping with mental health challenges, their families, professionals, and rehabilitation workers. The School collaborates with a wide range of stakeholders, academic institutions in Israel and worldwide, and organizations supporting rehabilitation and recovery, and plans to expand these collaborations in the coming years. In its recent activities, the School addresses multiculturalism and conducts special courses and workshops for the Arab and Haredi communities.

The school will continue to operate with an updated curriculum, which will include courses and workshops designed for the development of innovative specialized roles for experienced professionals, courses adapted for rehabilitation work with populations with unique characteristics, and specialized courses for the professional development of rehabilitation workers.

In the current academic year, six courses from the school's curriculum will be offered on an online learning platform. This platform will enable many rehabilitation professionals from peripheral and sectoral organizations to participate in the School of Rehabilitation's courses and benefit from professional, advanced learning focused on rehabilitation and recovery.

The School of Rehabilitation courses operate in two main divisions:

Training courses for specific roles in the community mental health rehabilitation system, designed for various professionals working in Israel’s mental health rehabilitation system, such as: Basic training for rehabilitation unit managers; training for service providers with experiential knowledge who are currently working or plan to work as service providers in the community mental health rehabilitation system; training for rehabilitation coordinators; a course on the practical application of experiential knowledge; and training for rehabilitation instructors.

Courses in rehabilitative-therapeutic practice in mental health rehabilitation and recovery, such as: Implementation and integration of the Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) program as an evidence-based intervention in mental health rehabilitation; the basic principles of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT); Dynamic Cognitive Intervention (DCI); Young People and Mental Health: theory, research, and practice in supporting young adults in recovery processes; and rehabilitative work with individuals coping with mental and cognitive disabilities.

In addition, the school conducts:

Training courses for parents, family members, and caregivers: The Keshet Course, which focuses on cognitive-dynamic communication and teaches family members effective communication both within and outside the family, as well as facilitator training courses for Keshet. In addition, in the coming years we plan to develop additional courses tailored to the needs of family members.

Short-term workshops on various topics: Throughout the school year, workshops are held that focus on topics relevant to the current period and to rehabilitation work. For example: a workshop on strengthening mental resilience in rehabilitation relationships; applying the prism of loss and grief in mental health rehabilitation; a workshop for new employees in the rehabilitation system; a workshop on bibliotherapy as a tool for advancing work processes in the field of rehabilitation; and more.

In the coming school year, the School of Rehabilitation will offer training courses for professional managers and senior staff on trauma-informed work with individuals, organizations, and communities, in the wake of the events of October 7 and the Iron Swords War.

The training programs will be funded and supervised by the Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Israeli Coalition for Trauma.

The training programs will consist of 6 sessions and will be held at various locations across the country. The goal is to train senior managers who can then train their own teams and ensure the implementation of evidence-based practices for interventions with individuals, communities, and organizations directly or indirectly affected by trauma.

The School of Rehabilitation will publish information on its training programs and registration procedures at a later date. Please follow our announcements.

The school conducts various studies and training programs, whenever possible, in different regions across the country: at Ono Academic College, Haifa Campus, and Beer Sheva. Additionally, courses are held in other locations as needed.

• Some courses are recognized for credit towards a first degree in the Education department at Ono Academic College, and in the Health and Rehabilitation Sciences department within the Community Mental Health track. Further details can be found in the course descriptions.

Between 2011 and 2024, the school offered courses and workshops attended by over 8,000 students. These included diverse professionals working in rehabilitation, para-professional rehabilitation workers, service users, and families.

We consider appropriate and up-to-date training for professionals in psychiatric rehabilitation to be an essential condition for providing high-quality and effective services. The National School for Training in Rehabilitation, Integration, and Recovery in Mental Health serves as a value-driven, conceptual, theoretical, and practical foundation for training and guiding professionals as rehabilitation specialists in the mental health field. It thus provides a framework for advancing and improving the quality of services for the well-being of individuals coping with mental health challenges and their families.

Management of the National School for Rehabilitation, Integration, and Recovery in Mental Health:

Dr. Sarah Deas-Iraqi, Director

Ms. Orly Oren, Assistant Director

Dr. Yael Mazor, Head of Development

Ms. Tamar Dvora, Administrative Assistant

Ms. Yael Linsker, Administration and Finance Coordinator

Mental Health Division, Medical Department, Ministry of Health:

Ms. Batya Leidner, Deputy Head of the Mental Health Division for Rehabilitation.

Dr. Vered Balush-Kleinman, Senior Manager of Quality, Planning, Research, and Professional Development.