Jewish Traumatic Invalidation with Israeli Psychologist Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern

Dec 4, 2025

Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern, a Harvard-affiliated clinical psychologist and trauma expert, shares her insights on traumatic invalidation in the Jewish community after the October 7th attacks. Growing up in Israel during conflict, she discusses how inherited trauma shapes mental health responses. Miri highlights her efforts with Parents for Peace to prevent radicalization and combat antisemitism, emphasizing the importance of validating Jewish trauma. Her work advocates for mental health support and education to nurture resilience and address community needs.

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ANECDOTE

Normalizing Terror In Youth

Miri Bar-Halpern recounts growing up in Israel during the Second Intifada and normalizing daily terror threats.
She describes instinctively taking cover when lights came on at a party in Connecticut, revealing latent trauma responses.

INSIGHT

Intergenerational Trauma Shapes Reactivity

Miri connects current triggers to intergenerational epigenetic vulnerabilities from ancestral trauma.
She links her personal, familial, and marital traumas as converging influences on her work in trauma.

INSIGHT

What Traumatic Invalidation Means

Traumatic invalidation is when others deny or ignore your emotional experience after trauma and it blocks healing.
Miri frames it as distinct from, but related to, gaslighting and rooted in nine clinical criteria.

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