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"Although the world is full of suffering, 
it is also full of the overcoming of it."

Helen Keller

"Although the world is full of suffering, 
it is also full of the overcoming of it."

Helen Keller

Head of Research Lab

rivi.jpg

Dr. Rivi Frei Landau

Dr. Rivi Frei Landau is a certified rehabilitation psychologist, and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Psychology at Achva Academic College.

Rivi heads the Laboratory for the Study of Coping with Loss, Crisis and Stress from a Multicultural Perspective, and also serves as head of the special education department at the Faculty of Education at Achva Academic College.

General information

Rivi studied in a direct PhD. track on a Presidential Scholarship at Bar-Ilan University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the MOFET Institute, specializing in pediatric neurorehabilitation at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, and later in the neurological departments of adults coping with life-threatening neurodegenerative diseases. Subsequently, she began integrating the fields of psychology, education and special education into research, teaching and clinical work.

She has been awarded research grants from the Chief Scientist, as well as the Israel Foundation Trustee. ​

Recently, she  gave a TED talk on the importance of supporting bereaved children in the education system:

Rivi teaches qualitative research methodology courses in the college’s M.A degree program in special education and specializes in the application of integrative qualitative and research methods. Some of the studies Rivi supervises in collaboration with Prof. Naama Sabar Ben-Yehoshua, an internationally renowned expert in qualitative research.

She is a member of international organizations engaged in the study of loss and bereavement – both in the United States (Association for Death Education and Counseling - ADEC) and in Europe (The Association for the Study of Death and Society), and in the Israeli Forum on Loss and Bereavement. She has lectured at conferences in Israel and abroad on loss and bereavement and qualitative research in Switzerland, Greece, England, the USA and elsewhere.

 

Rivi has collaborated with Prof. David Schonfeld from the University of Southern California and Director of National Center for School Crisis & Bereavement at the Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, & Member of the Coalition to support grieving students. During the "Iron-Swords" War in Israel (2023-2024) they created and distributed a free digital death education training for educational staff on how to best support grieving children. 

 

Rivi is a reviewer for journals addressing loss research: Death studies, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. ​She is also one of the professional advisors of "Sunflowers" ("Hamaniot") - the only non-profit organization that supports bereaved orphan children in Israel.

For more information, see:

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