The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) has apologised for dropping an article about Jewish trauma resulting from Hamas’s assault on Israel on 7 October from its magazine over “a concern around sensitivities”.
The article was written by Dr Sandi Mann, a regular columnist for the association’s journal, Counselling at Work, for the past 10 years. She said the BACP’s apology was an “important victory against a trend for de-platforming the Jewish experience”.
Her article focused on the response among Jews in Manchester to the 7 October massacre and the help provided by professionals. The BACP said it decided “at the last minute … not to publish the piece over a concern around sensitivities relating to the topic”.
Its statement said: “On reflection, this was the wrong decision. We’re deeply sorry for not publishing the article and for the hurt that decision has caused.”
The statement also said that Mann’s article was a “powerful insight into important work being carried out to support the Jewish community with trauma and deserves to be shared publicly”. The BACP has now published it on its website.
In the article, Mann, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, said that as chair of Jewish Action for Mental Health she was “at the forefront of coordinating a response to the mass mental health needs that became apparent so suddenly”.
Most Jewish people in the UK “knew someone who had been brutally murdered, kidnapped, displaced from their home or called up to defend their country in a terrifying war against terror”. Local Jewish communities were sent “into a state of traumatic stress”.
The needs were so great that “mental health professionals quickly became burned out by the demands, not just to provide therapy, but to speak at events, hold Zoom sessions, and even to offer Zoom support to the traumatised in Israel.
“It was hard for mental health professionals to cope with the devastated people they were encountering who had lost loved ones so brutally, or were terrified about the welfare of those kidnapped by such a brutal terrorist regime.
“When desperate people look to us to make them better and we can’t take away the pain, that is tough – when this happens at a mass level for so long, it can become unbearable.”
She added that many Muslims were “also traumatised by the distressing deaths of Gazans caught in the crossfire in the war against Hamas”.
Mann said she was “delighted” the BACP had reversed its decision to drop the article and had apologised.
“This is an important victory against a trend for de-platforming the Jewish experience and is sending a strong message that attempts to silence the Jewish voice with threats or intimidation will not be tolerated.
“I hope that this sets a precedent to any other institution or organisation that is fearful of giving the Jewish community a platform and that British institutions will take a firm stance to support the Jewish community against the pressures of a vocal minority.”
