Why Career Recovery Is Essential for PTSD Healing in Israel

While the physical wounds of war are visible, PTSD wages an invisible battle in Israel’s workplaces. Soldiers experiencing what NATAL’s Chief Psychologist Dr. Boaz Shalgi calls “rolling trauma”. (Credit: Canva)

When “Ben” (name has been changed to protect privacy) came home from the war, everything had changed. He was dealing with a major injury that changed his life forever, but thanks to NATAL’s career development program, his income wasn’t affected. Ben found this unbelievable outcome by working closely with his therapist, who decided from the beginning to focus on his current source of income.

He had a personal connection with his therapist from the very beginning — and the flexibility to understand that even though they weren’t in the same situation, they shared the same drive to achieve his goals. Ben is now on a renewed path to recovery and working on tools to help him stay consistent with work. He and his therapist talked about the importance of continuing mental health support, regarding it as the fuel that enables him to keep working and earn a living — despite his injury.

PTSD Is a Psychological Struggle — and a Life Struggle

I wanted to share Ben’s story in honor of PTSD Awareness Month in June. In fact, June 27 is PTSD Awareness Day. In Israel, trauma is not a rare occurrence. It affects not just soldiers but also civilians, children, and entire communities.

Everyone experiences trauma differently, which is why it’s so important to utilize a trauma-informed approach, not just in life but also in the workplace.

“While trauma-informed practices do exist, they are not adapted to the world of employment or to functioning in the job market,” said Shaked Arieli, director of NATAL’s Career Development Unit. “At the same time, there are employment support services for trauma survivors, but they often do not take post-traumatic symptoms into account or address how these symptoms impact occupational skills.”

Many reservists who are cycling in and out of combat zones are then returning to work. This image captures what that experience can feel like:
You return from combat and go back to work, sitting in an open-space office.
Physically, you’re back at your desk. But mentally, your mind is still on the battlefield. (Credit: Shaked Arieli, Director of NATAL’s Career Development Unit)

The Hidden Workplace Battle

While the physical wounds of war are visible, PTSD wages an invisible battle in Israel’s workplaces. Soldiers experiencing what NATAL’s Chief Psychologist Dr. Boaz Shalgi calls “rolling trauma”—cycling between combat and civilian life without time to process—return to their desks with minds still on the battlefield.

The workplace symptoms are unmistakable: explosive anger, inability to focus, chronic exhaustion, and emotional volatility. But the deeper impacts cut even further. NATAL’s research reveals a stark reality: 54% of PTSD patients earn below the national average, while nearly half feel their jobs don’t match their abilities.

This isn’t just about individual struggle—it’s about lost potential across an entire workforce. When almost 60% can’t manage time effectively and over half battle motivation issues, the ripple effects touch every corner of Israeli society.

HR professionals find themselves on an unexpected front line, managing employees who may have lost homes, loved ones, or simply the ability to trust that they’re safe. Without trauma-informed support, these hidden battles threaten not just individual recovery, but Israel’s economic resilience during its greatest challenge.

In the previous image, we saw someone who returned to work, but whose mind remained on the battlefield. Here, in contrast, the combat experience is framed as a picture on the office wall. In other words, it’s about learning to manage the symptoms, rather than letting the symptoms manage us. (Credit: Shaked Arieli, Director of NATAL’s Career Development Unit)

A Framework for Recovery — From a Trauma-Informed Approach

The combat experience is framed. It’s about learning to manage the symptoms, rather than letting the symptoms manage us. In practice, we focus on rebuilding and strengthening skills that may have been affected by trauma, such as self-regulation and grounding and time management and organization focus.

We also focus on motivation and restoring inner resources, including a sense of safety and confidence, self-worth and capability, and hope and future career identity. We also help participants reflect on the strengths, resources, and opportunities they have today — some of which may not have been available to them in the past.

An important part of NATAL’s career development program is that there’s a match between therapist and client. The organization takes steps to ensure that therapists are a similar age and in a similar stage of life as the client. The model also includes matching the client with a mentor to maximize the human connection that will help them thrive.

Why Career Development Must be Central to Healing

Mental health recovery isn’t sustainable without economic security, self-worth, and structure. Especially in Israel today, where trauma has touched so many, we need to expand our definition of healing.

Healing doesn’t make trauma go away, and one of NATAL’s core beliefs is that healing from trauma is growing and learning from it so that it becomes part of you — but you’re provided the tools to move forward and grow from it.

This means integrating career coaching and vocational support into all trauma services. NATAL is a one-stop shop that enables the person receiving trauma-informed career support to receive additional services from the clinical unit or join one of the therapeutic groups in the community. This one-stop-shop model is essential for career recovery because of the way it impacts every part of our lives. We all want a thriving Israeli society and boosting economy. This will help us get there.