Preparing adolescents for immigration: A group intervention

This paper describes and illustrates a group intervention that prepared adolescents from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) for immigration to Israel. The intervention was implemented for students setting out to Israel for a special educational program and was carried out in summer camps held for these students in the FSU. The intervention was structured according to the principles of primary prevention in the sphere of mental health. Its contents were based on the conceptualization of migration as a separation-individuation process. The techniques were attuned to previous cultural experiences and future needs of the participants. A scheme for the intervention was formulated in advance, however, the facilitators were free to implement their ideas as well. Vignettes that demonstrate the different variations of the model are presented.