February 2023

“The Times They Are-a-Changin”

The Counseling Center for Women operates on a tradition of joint management of all members. The Center is managed in partnership by two directors: Ronit Uliel Mirkin and Yael Levin. Joint management reflects the feminist values at the base of our organization. It reflects the challenge of traditional models of power and hierarchy, the decentralization of power and creation of networks of communication and cooperation. We are committed to empowering women and social and professional action for the advancement of women.

Meet Our New Co-Directors

Ronit Uliel Mirkin

Director of Operations and Partnerships

A bit about Ronit:

  • Prior to her start at the CCW, Ronit was the Director of of Administration, Quality and Regulation in the Department of Mental Health in the Ministry of Health
  • Ronit’s professional background includes an extensive focus on therapy for women by women
  • She was in charge of intake as well as supervision groups for social work students at the Multidisciplinary Center in the Bnei Zion Hospital
  • Ronit is highly experienced working with sexual assault survivors, women facing drug abuse issues and prostitution survivors
  • Ronit volunteers for a project which provides meals to prostitution survivors
  • For the last seven years Ronit has been part of Israel’s top netball women’s league
  • Ronit has been with her partner for 17 years and they have four boys
  • Ronit is 180 meters tall
  • Ronit loves to travel, especially to the desert
  • She loves to read and listen to music
  • Ronit loves going to concerts
  • She is a foodie who enjoys a good cup of coffee and a chocolate cake with Italian Amarena cherries on top
  • Ronit’s hope for this year at CCW is to open as many doors and opportunities as possible, to build bridges between CCW and the community as well as creating as much outreach as possible for women by women

Yael Levin

Clinical Director
 

A bit about Yael:

  • Yael has been a social worker since 1994
  • She began her career as a community social worker in Jaffa working with Jews and Arabs
  • As an undergraduate social work student, she volunteered for the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center
    • There she participated extensively in activist movements, and was exposed to feminism
    • She was a volunteer for the center’s hotline
    • She was a support group facilitator for incest survivors. Her clinical supervisor was Jo Oppenheimer, one of the founders of CCW
    • Her time at the Sexual Assault Crisis Center led her to CCW 
  • Yael teaches psychoanalytic psychotherapy for treatment of sexual trauma at Bar Ilan University
  • Yael is also studying in an advanced program of relational psychotherapy at Tel Aviv University
  • Yael is married to Benny and together they have two girls
  • Yael loves poetry
  • Yael enjoys singing and says in her next life she wants to come back as a singer
  • She is active in the social workers’ union
  • In 2010 Yael and her family enjoyed three months of travel in New Zealand and Australia
  • During her thesis period, Yael spent the majority of her time at cafes enjoying a cappuccino while researching and writing

A Message From Our Directors:

“The political is personal” and vice versa – the social status of women directly affects their personal and physical situation, and the mental health of women and those close to them. Now more than ever, psychotherapy for women is becoming intertwined in social as well as political aspects that affect the lives of women. This is an ongoing social and professional challenge that has been a focus of our therapy at CCW.  

The Counseling Center for Women is a feminist organization whose goal is to create social change. CCW is comprised of women therapists who are committed to providing quality psychotherapy services to women using a feminist approach. The Center directs its activity to various focal points: providing quality psychotherapeutic treatment for women, professional practice bringing the feminist perspective to therapists and social workers in mental health fields, and social activity aimed at changing the social status of women. 

The Power of Therapy
 
B, a woman in her 30s from a religious background began therapy to overcome negative body image issues and low self-esteem. She is a non-native Israeli which can add additional stresses to daily life. B expressed feelings of hopelessness to her therapist, fearing she would not have the “perfect life” i.e. married with kids. 
Feminist therapy helped B work through her inner struggles. Together with her therapist, B explored her past to determine why she was having negative feelings about herself. While it was a long, uphill psychological journey, she overcame her negative self and body image. She realized her value and found a partner who also saw her value. 
B says that without the therapy she received at CCW, she would not have attained what she has now: a partner and children as well as feeling happy and confident.
CCW was clearly the right place for her.
 

It is from support of donors like you that we can continue to provide subsidized therapy hours in addition to a safe and caring environment for these women.  

  • A donation of $25 subsidizes one hour of therapy 

  • A donation of $100 subsidizes one month of therapy 

  • A donation of $1200 subsidizes a year of therapy 

Even the smallest donation goes a long way. 

Thank you! 

Help us help women

Transform the life of a woman today by making a gift to CCW! 

For Credit Card Donations

DONATE through PEF
DONATE through J-GIVE

Donating through PEF

US tax deductible donations over $25 can be sent by check or by wire transfer to PEF Israel Endowment Funds Inc. (501C3), 630 Third Ave., 15th floor, New York, NY10017. Please ensure to enclose a note indicating that it is recommended for The Counseling Center for Women,  I.D. number 58-0130789. (Due to COVID, please send checks only through the Postal Service, as no-one will be able to sign for UPS/FedEx etc.)

Donating through Fidelity

Please email Fidelity with cc to info@pefisrael.org, stating the date and amount of your gift, including the name of your fund at Fidelity and your recommendation for the donation to go to Counseling Center for Women, I.D. number 58-0130789

For bank transfers or checks : please email office@ccw.org.il

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