Yediot Aharonot Education Supplement, Published January 26, 2025
This article, published in Hebrew, describes the expansion of Hibuki in the North in light of the emergency. Hibuki has been a critical tool for preschool students and educators since October 7th and the ensuing trauma. An English translation of the article is provided below:
After Yuval’s father was injured in Lebanon, Yuval refused to go to the hospital to visit him, go to preschool, or even say goodbye to his mother. Yuval would get angry easily and attempts to talk to him made things worse. His mother decided to try a new method, with “Hibuki,” a doll he received in preschool. She encouraged Yuval to care for the doll, using prompts such as “Hibuki is lonely and needs you, play with him.” Over time, Yuval began to bond with the doll. One day, Yuval began speaking to Hibuki, “Hibuki, you are a brave pilot on a secret mission, you will defeat Hezbollah. You are invincible!”. His mother, surprised, recognized that he was speaking about his father’s mission and was beginning to express his feelings. Through using play mechanisms, Yuval gradually began to share his emotions and communicate his feelings, even willing to visit his injured father in the hospital.
Hibuki has had a major impact on Yuval and many other children like him in terms of trauma processing. “Hibuki doll therapy” was first created in 2006 to support children experiencing stress and trauma during the Second Lebanon War. It was a way to ease the suffering of children aged 3-8 who were evacuated from their homes, as well as the adults responsible for them. “We know that the sooner we provide solutions, the more we can prevent the condition from worsening and help them return to normal functioning, preventing PTSD” explains Dr. Flora Mor, one of the developers of the project- a joint development of JDC-Ashalim, the Psychological Counseling Service (SHEFI) at the Ministry of Education, and the Department of Psychology at Tel Aviv University.
Mor, who heads the Education Systems Challenges Division at JDC-Ashalim, a division of JDC-Israel which works to promote socio-economic mobility, notes that the project has helped about 70,000 children in Israel who were exposed to traumatic events, including the Carmel fire, and later Japanese children during the 2011 tsunami and Ukrainian children during the current war in their country.
“The greatest advantage of Hibuki is that while not every child is referred to individual therapy, the treatment is brought into the preschool, where every child has experienced various hardships. The educational staff and family can then return to their role in providing a safe space for the children,” Mor explains.
The activities take place in preschools managed by the psychological counseling service teams and facilitated by play therapists, who present the children with a play stimulus that enriches their imagination and allows them to play freely and incorporate challenging elements from their world. The activity also helps those in severe distress to join in and gradually release their tension. “Hibuki” is a soft, long-armed puppy doll that can hug the child and cling to them. The children take care of the doll and assign it roles from their world, using their imagination. They are able to identify with the doll and indirectly address their own distress,” Mor describes.
Einav Luk, senior director of the Psychological Counseling Service (SHEFI), says, “The intervention is based on the principle that active coping of children in stressful situations prevents distress and creates better adaptation. When a child is given an active role in caring for the doll, including its fears, and its suffering, the child projects their own distress onto the doll. Through caring for Hibuki, the child cares for themselves.”
Collective Trauma and the War Required a Change in the Field
Since October 7th, the collective trauma and ensuing war required the development and implementation team to refine their approach. It was adapted for an unprecedented collective trauma in Israeli history in terms of scope, severity, and duration. JDC partnered with the Psychological Counseling Service to operate nationwide – in temporary preschools for evacuated areas, in preschools that have taken in evacuated children, and shelters. Since September 2024, the group has been also responding to the many needs in preschools in the border communities. This expansion is being adapted to a multicultural population including: the ultra-Orthodox, Druze, and Arabs, who are all coping with an ongoing traumatic reality. The full scope of damage is not yet clear. The project reaches over 450 preschools, including 15,000 children, their parents, preschool staff, supervisors, counselors, educational psychologists, and play therapists.
According to the method, the intervention relies on the healing power of play. “When faced with traumatic events, children often avoid dealing with their painful reality, and struggle to play for fear that the trauma will invade their minds and recreate moments of terror. The child’s world is no longer as safe, their natural flow of thoughts and imagination is blocked, and their unconscious wish is to disconnect from what disturbs their mind,” Mor explains. Children, according to Mor, tend to project their feelings onto play figures, especially animals, for identification and emotional regulation. As part of the project, children participate in guided play activities that enrich their imagination and spontaneous play ability, through which the child finds ways to express thoughts and feelings that arise in them.
Another example of Hibuki at work is with Nir, whose father was killed fighting in Gaza. Nir’s preschool teacher can see that he does not want to participate in anything. The teacher is also recovering from her own loss, her son who was recently killed by shrapnel in a Hezbollah attack. The close support and constant presence of the educational psychologist and play therapist in the preschool allow both Nir and his teacher to connect with their loss. Through play, without direct conversation, they manage to touch on the pain and sorrow. One day, Nir sticks a tear sticker on Hibuki’s eye. “Hibuki, you miss Dad”, he hugs him tightly and rocks him like a baby. The teacher hears this and gently suggests: “Hibuki would be happy if you made a surprise for Dad and put it in the longing box you made.” Nir slowly begins to re-immerse himself in play and creation with enjoyment. One day, the teacher plays the song “Together Heart to Heart,” Nir exclaims: “This is my favorite song!!!” She encourages him to join in and sing with everyone. Nir sings enthusiastically. Both the teacher and Nir are excited-it is the first time Nir has returned to participating with the other children.
