Reclaiming the Trauma Narrative Through Human Connection and Standardized Care

During a coffee sit-down in London with members of the NATAL team, Boaz Shalgi, NATAL’s chief psychologist, paused and looked across the table. He asked a single question: “When was the first time you cried after October 7th?”

For a moment we were silent. But then, as each person around the table shared their answer, we realized that we were doing more than recounting a moment of grief. We were sharing personal stories of how we, as individuals, processed and coped with trauma.

Boaz is the clinician who coined the term “rolling trauma.” Unlike acute trauma, where an event ends, the dust settles, and recovery begins, rolling trauma describes an ongoing state where one wave of crisis bleeds into the next, leaving no breathing room to process or mourn.

Answering this difficult question empowered us to reclaim our stories. In many ways it demonstrates that healing a society trapped in continuous trauma is not going to be successful through passive endurance, because each person has a different narrative to tell. New beginnings and resilience are built on standardized trauma care that empowers individuals to step out of reactive shock and reclaim how they processed or are still processing the trauma.

A Story Told Through Music

Healing begins when we step out of survival mode and reclaim our voice. Few stories illustrate this transformation as powerfully as that of Alon Ohel, the Israeli pianist who was abducted from the Nova music festival and held in Hamas captivity for 738 days. 

Ohel has spoken about the ways the music he replayed in his mind helped him survive and maintain a sense of humanity during the harsh conditions of Hamas captivity. He shared that when he couldn’t move or speak, he knew that he had the right to choose what to think about and chose music and family. At the upcoming American Friends of NATAL gala, Alon Ohel will perform “Shir Lelo Shem” (Song Without a Name), the song he mentally played and hummed while in captivity.

It is the owning of his narrative frames survivors not as passive victims of horror, but as active agents of Post-Traumatic Growth.

The Unregulated “Wild West” of Post-Trauma Care

The stories are usually not told until the person is ready, and for most that means trauma-informed mental health therapy. In the wake of October 7th, the proportion of Israelis suffering from PTSD symptoms surged from 16% to nearly 30%. Israel simply does not have enough licensed psychotherapists to meet this unprecedented, exponential demand.

This gap triggered a well-intentioned but dangerous explosion of over 400 new pop-up non-profits and unaccredited therapeutic initiatives. A recent report in Calcalist,“Anyone with two chickens and a patch of mint calls themselves a therapeutic farm” says it all.

While driven by deep empathy, passion without protocol is dangerous. Unmonitored or unstandardized interventions, such as high-intensity emotional retreats or combat-processing workshops run without clinical supervision, carry severe risks. Without proper follow-up, survivors can suffer acute flashbacks, re-traumatization, or mental health crises once the retreat ends and they are left alone.

To address this crisis, NATAL helped establish and coordinate the Back on Track Forum, uniting over 50 veteran and recovery organizations to establish standardized clinical protocols and self-assessment benchmarks across the country. The mission is to ensure that after a traumatic event there is a qualified and standardized support system.

Standardizing “First Emotional Aid” Across Borders

To scale effective trauma treatment globally, frontline clinical protocols must be translated into rigorous international standards. On October 8, 2026, American Friends of NATAL in collaboration with the Columbia University PTSD Research & Treatment Program will host a seminar entitled Resilience Under Pressure. The mission is to bring together leading international experts and establish a global manual with clear standards for managing mass trauma.

This landmark seminar translates frontline Israeli clinical protocols into international best practices. Featuring Boaz Shalgi on the capacity to mourn under continuous threat, alongside world-renowned clinical experts who are establishing evidence-based models, it will focus on systemic population screening, and innovative approaches.

Trauma Will Not Define Our Future

Healing a nation under rolling trauma requires a dual commitment: deep human connection and uncompromising professional standards.

We must continue asking one another the hard questions like “When was the last time you cried after October 7th?” while building the clinical infrastructure required to carry that emotional load safely. By combining clinical rigor with compassionate community support, we can ensure every survivor has the protocols, support, and strength to write their own next chapter.