Harvard experts warn Diaspora Jews are suffering from ‘traumatic invalidation’ after Oct. 7

Diaspora Jews have spent nearly two full years seeing posters of Israeli hostages ripped down in public, hearing chants of “Go back to Poland” in the streets, and seeing Zionists banned from progressive organizations and events. After all that, Diaspora Jews could be suffering from a condition called “traumatic invalidation”. The diagnosis is contained in a research paper published this year by two Jewish Harvard University–affiliated psychologists who specialize in trauma. The symptoms include anxiety, depression, shame and, in extreme cases, post-traumatic stress disorder. The authors found that Jewish patients reported their pain and trauma after Oct. 7 has been not only widely ignored, but in many cases denied—or even weaponized against them. Since their study was published by The Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment in May 2025, it has struck a chord among the Canadian Jewish community. That’s why a coalition of Canadian synagogues, Jewish medical professionals and trauma organizations have brought one of the authors to this country this week for a series of public talks. On today’s episode of The CJN’s North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner sits down with Dr. Miri Bar-Halpern, a Boston-based clinical psychologist and Harvard lecturer, who is wrapping up her speaking tour in Toronto. She explains why she decided to investigate this subject and offers some tools to help people heal.

Related links

• Read Dr. Bar-Halpern and her colleague’s scholarly article, about Oct. 7 and traumatic invalidation, in The Journal of Human Behaviour in the Social Environment (22 pages).
• Learn more about Dr. Bar-Halperin, through her website.
• Attend the workshop Friday Sept. 5 in Toronto designed for mental health professionals to train them how to better support Jewish patients suffering from traumatic invalidation because of antisemitism.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Bret Higgins

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