Supervision groups at a time of violent social conflict in Israel

Beginning in September 2000, terror attacks and large numbers of casualties became part of Israel’s harrowing daily routine. The attacks occurred throughout the country, putting everyone at risk. These events also shattered the illusion of coexistence between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel and led to feelings of anger and suspicion between the two sectors. During this period we continued to conduct supervision groups for professionals in the helping professions, with some of these groups consisting of both Jewish and Arab participants. We expected to see the social conflict reflected in our groups, but they behaved quite differently. In light of our experience, this paper deals with the question of whether, at a time of existential threat and violent social conflict, the group can serve as a safe space for the participants and how external processes affect the level of group work and its basic assumptions.