Pinat HaYeled
Coordinated by Bracha Coopersmith, M.S.
“Pinat Hayeled”, the Children’s Unit specializes in the treatment of children and their families. The two-year comprehensive training covers all components of treatment, from a thorough clinical assessment, comprehensive treatment planning and the teaching of different modalities which include; play therapy, child-parent psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral techniques and family therapy. There is a focus on the treatment of attachment disorders, trauma, anxiety and children with attention and behavioral problems.
The training offers didactic course work and live one-way mirror observations. We aim to build the knowledge and skill set necessary to become a confident and experienced children’s therapist, in a supportive and empowering environment.
Meet the Supervisor
Bracha Coopersmith, M.S.
Bracha Coopersmith, M.S. earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Sociology from the University of North Texas completed Postgraduate training in Family Therapy at The Family Institute of Neve Yerushalayim where she received extensive, specialized training in psychotherapy with children and their families. In addition to being the Coordinator of the Pinat HaYeled Children’s Unit, she maintains a private practice in Jerusalem.
Admission Requirements
Therapists must have the following in order to be considered for admission to the specialized Trauma Unit at The Family Institute:
- Master's degree in a field related to mental health from an accredited university.
- 2 years of supervised clinical experience.
- Adherence to cultural and religious sensitivities.
- Ability to offer psychological services in Hebrew.
- Completion of application process.
What is the weekly time commitment?
4 hours
Group Supervision
Groups will meet on a designated day, determined by the group supervisor.
5 hours
Client Contact
A minimum of 5 client contact hours, with some being seen in the evenings.
Q and A with the
Unit Supervisor
Your questions answered
What does working with this population mean? Who usually comes and what are the overall presenting problems?
Working with kids means learning to speak kid-language as well as how to work within a framework of the child’s school and home lives. Parents will bring their child in with a presenting problem that has a wide and colorful spectrum. Sibling rivalry, not doing well in school, wetting the bed, an upcoming life change (moving, parents getting divorced, a very ill loved one, etc), attachment issues, anger management and much, much more.
What kind of time commitment would a typical caseload include?
A typical time commitment for working with a child would include meeting with the parents for parenting sessions, doing a school observation (for children of a certain age), conducting a family observation, writing up an assessment and then meeting with the child individually. The parents will be required to come in for monthly parenting sessions. In more complex cases, the larger system might be involved, including school meetings, working with the social services, psychiatrists, etc.
There is a real range in how much time goes into each child’s care.
What kind of group supervisions have you run before? What could I expect from the group supervision? What is the structure?
While I have been with Pinat HaYeled from its inception 20 years ago, I have been its group supervisor for the last eight years.
Group supervision is an academic, dynamic and often fun experience. You will be required to send in case notes on each of your cases prior to supervision. Each therapist has an allotted time where they bring up their questions, themes they have noticed and interventions that they have implemented. There are often family observations to observe and process.
You will be expected to read carefully culled readings pertaining to working with children and their families and be able to discuss them in supervision. You will also learn how and when use games as well as their therapeutic purpose. You will experience what it is like to complete a drawing directive, using the sandtray, and many more playful interventions. And sometimes, you’ll find yourself playing a game on the floor with your fellow therapists.
What book do you recommend reading before joining this unit?
Can you talk about your journey in working with this population?
Recently, I found my 8th grade yearbook where I had written that I wanted to be a child psychologist when I grew up. But I originally started out in the math field. Later on, I earned my Master’s through The Family Institute and did my master’s level internship at Kids for Kids. I continued on to the post-master’s training in The Family Institute and was working with families and individuals.
I found myself with an affinity for the children. When it came to looking at families and their patterns, I was drawn to how entrenched the parents and older siblings would be in their patterns. As I would look at a genogram, my attention would repeatedly shift downwards towards the younger children, and I would be so hopeful for those younger children. If only their parents could learn a different way of relating, they might not repeat the same patterns of interactions.
But Pinat HaYeled hadn’t yet been created at The Family Institute, so I was seeing children in the regular training program. When Pinat HaYeled was created, it was to meet the need for specialized training in working with a very unique population. I continued my training within Pinat HaYeled, opened a private practice and continued to work with children privately and within The Family Institute. Later, I came on staff as an individual supervisor for the therapists who were training to work with kids. I then took over the group supervision of Pinat HaYeled.
Has your experience in working with children transformed your perspective on your adult clients and how you understand them? In what way?
When someone sits in front of you as an adult, they’re all the ages they’ve ever been. The child, teen, young adult, all have a place in this adult client’s mental world. Having a real understanding of the developmental theories and a child’s expected social and emotional developmental milestones will enable you to better understand the adult client in your office.
With this perspective, an adult client can have greater empathy towards the child that they were and the impact their childhood had on them. So many cognitive distortions from childhood get stuck in the brain and manifest themselves in adulthood. A child might have a deep belief like “I’m not capable” or “I’m not lovable” as a result of something that happened at home, in school or in a social setting. It can be profound when you’re able to say “You were 7 years old and that was a developmentally appropriate thought for that age. But it wasn’t true then and it isn’t true now.”
Sometimes, with some psychoeducation about what is typical for a child, an adult client can finally feel understood and be able to put difficult childhood experiences into appropriate contexts.
Why is working with this population different than what I've already learned in my years at the clinic?
Children are not miniature adults. They have a different type of brain, way of communicating, and very different social and emotional needs. They are completely dependent on the adults in their lives. Children are expected live appropriately within a world created by adults that they don’t necessarily understand. In order to effectively work with children, you have to know their language, understand their needs and be able to relate to them on their level.
Working with children requires specialized and intensive training. You have to learn what is and isn’t appropriate for their age. You have to know how different something can look from a child’s perspective. But most importantly, you have to learn how the language of children. A typical session with a child will not look anything like a typical session with an adult.
A child expresses himself through the language that he knows best, which is to play, create and destroy. You might find yourself playing games together, doing art projects, kicking a ball around or reading a book. But play therapy is not glorified babysitting. There is always a theory that instructs the play and the interventions. There is a reason for each game you choose, which art supplies you offer the child and so much more.
A therapist working with children also has to learn how to tap into their own innate playfulness as well. The work of a child therapist is to successfully intertwine theories and conceptualizations with playfulness and an understanding of a child’s world.
I have kids at home, how will working on this unit impact that?
If something difficult comes up for related to a specific client, you will always be able to bring it up in private with me, or with the group if you’d like. You have to have your finger on the pulse in terms of what is happening in your personal life and how it will impact your work with the children.
It has enriched many peoples (including myself) experiences with their own children and grandchildren. You’ll have the training, understanding and playfulness to engage with the kids in your life in a completely different way.
What would I be missing out on if I don’t join this unit?
Given what we’ve spoken about here, I think you’ll be missing out on a deeper understanding of your clients and their experiences. The first point of the journey of their lives that have made them who they are today was their childhood. Old family therapists would ignore the children as irrelevant, but we have come to understand that it is harder to help people change when they are older. When you work with the lower dyads in a family you can affect real change within the family.
One Final Thought:
Kids can’t help themselves and they really need the adults in their lives to be there for them. You will learn to take delight in working with kids. And to appreciate what it means to have the zchus of improving the lives of the children of Klal Yisroel.