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Dr. Sarit Bar Zaken

Head of the Master's Program in Bibliotherapy

Kibbutzim College of Education, Technology and the Arts, Tel-Aviv, Israel

Publications and Academic Activities
Engaged in research, academic teaching, and supervision of therapists

Postdoctoral Research  
Bar Zaken, S. (2020). A hybrid bridge: Art therapists between Western knowledge and traditional cultural knowledge. Mofet Institute.

Doctoral Dissertation  
Bar Zaken, S. (2014). The archetype of motherhood and the great mother: An exploration in Persian and Russian folktales and their presence in culturally sensitive bibliotherapy. Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.

Master's Thesis  
Zaken, S. (2005). Academic achievement locus of control as a function of narrative model. University of Haifa, Haifa.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles  
Bar Zaken, S. (2020). Folktales in assistance of cross-culture therapy: Cultural mental prototype of motherhood in Russian folktales. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 33(4), 236–251.

Bar Zaken, S., & Vaknin, O. (2020). “The sound of the limpid wishes of water to flow”: Reading and writing as an impasse-breaking space in supervision processes. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 33(2), 83-94.

Bar Zaken, S., & Walsh, D. S. (2021). Bridging the cultural gap: Challenges and coping mechanisms employed by Arab art therapists in Israel. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 76.

Bar Zaken, S., & Walsh, D. S. (In press). Separation or integration of dual-cultural identities? Visual and verbal images created by Arab art therapists in Israel. International Journal of Art Therapy.

Bar Zaken, S. (2023). Lost or found in translation: Multilingualism among Arab bibliotherapists in Israel. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 37(2), 1-18.

Bar Zaken, S. (2018). Motherhood as a cultural construct: A Jungian comparative analysis of Russian and Persian folktales. Gilyon Da'at.

Bar Zaken, S. (2019). "Once upon a time...": The use of folktales to decipher cultural psychological patterns—Culturally sensitive bibliotherapy. Bein HaMilim: Journal of Art Therapy, 17.

Vaknin, O., & Bar Zaken, S. (2018). "Thus Momo knows how to listen": The contribution of reading and writing processes to supervision. Therapy in the Arts: Research and Creativity in the Therapeutic Act, 9.

Edited Book  
Vaknin, O., & Bar Zaken, S. (Eds.). (2022). Through words: Theory and practice in text-assisted therapy. Tel Aviv: Carmel Publishing House.

Book Chapters  
Bar Zaken, S. (2021). Mistress of heaven and earth: Three voices of the mother figure. In T. Timor (Ed.), Parenting from all perspectives (pp. [page range]). Tel Aviv: Kibbutzim College of Education and Mofet Institute.

Bar Zaken, S. (2022). Spoken Arabic: Principles of therapeutic texts adapted for a collective society. In S. Bar Zaken & O. Vaknin (Eds.), Through words (pp. 164-172). Tel Aviv: Carmel Publishing House.

Bar Zaken, S., & Vaknin, O. (2022). Reading for parenting: Therapeutic work with parents assisted by reading and writing. In S. Bar Zaken & O. Vaknin (Eds.), Through words (pp. 144-152). Tel Aviv: Carmel Publishing House.

Bar Zaken, S. (2016). Women in the eyes of the blind owl: Sadegh Hedayat (the Iranian Kafka). Mizrah: Journal of Culture and Literature, 29.

Conferences  
Bar Zaken, S. (2023, June). "I'm an Englishman in New York": Folktales as an assessment tool in cross-cultural therapy (Lecture), Creative Arts Therapies Assessments Summit, World Art Therapy Conference Online. https://www.artstherapies.org/course/assessment-summit.

Bar Zaken, S. (2021). Between individual and collective: Cultural adjustment in training of art therapists from the Arab society. IAIE Conference, Israel.

Bar Zaken, S. (August, 2020). Joseph and his brothers as a healing story: Therapeutic aspects of the text (Lecture). Annual Symposium, The Center for Text Studies, Text Editing and Processing: Beyond Correctness, Lifshitz College, Jerusalem.

Bar Zaken, S. (February, 2021). Once in a while: Coping in times of crisis through poetry (Lecture). Annual Lecturer Conference "Reflection, Insight, and Wisdom, Kibbutzim College of Education.

Bar Zaken, S. (March, 2022). Culturally sensitive therapy in Arab society and cross-cultural dialogue (Lecture). Symposium, Kibbutzim College of Education.

Bar Zaken, S. (June, 2022). The therapist as creator—A look at the role of creativity in the life of art therapists. Panel moderator and participant, Symposium, Kibbutzim College of Education.

Bar Zaken, S. (2022). Between two cultures: Visual images of Arab art therapists. Symposium, Art Therapy in Arab Society and Cross-Cultural Dialogue, Bibliotherapy Training Program, Kibbutzim College of Education.

Bar Zaken, S. (2018). Folktales as cultural essence: Culturally sensitive therapy through folktales. Symposium, Bibliotherapy Training Program, Kibbutzim College of Education.

Bar Zaken, S. (2015). "Folktale, tell me about this client's culture": Culturally sensitive bibliotherapy. Symposium, Bibliotherapy Training Program, David Yellin College.

Academic Activities

2018-2024  
- Member of the Scientific Committee, YAHAT (Israel Association for Creative Arts Therapies).  
- Editorial board member of the peer-reviewed journal "Bein HaMilim."

2018  
- Organized a symposium – Around the tribal fire: Mythological stories, folktales, and Hasidic stories in the therapeutic act. Symposium, Bibliotherapy Training Program, Kibbutzim College of Education.

2016  
- Scientific advising and judging, Bahat Prize, University of Haifa Press.

2023-present  
- Head of the Master’s Program in Bibliotherapy, Kibbutzim College of Education.

2015-2022  
- Coordinator of Practicum and Supervision, Bibliotherapy Training Program, Kibbutzim College of Education.

2015-2021  
- Supervised department supervisors and organized learning sessions on supervision in the Bibliotherapy Department, Kibbutzim College of Education.

2012-2016  
- Supervised students in the Bibliotherapy Department, Kibbutzim College of Education.

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Contact

972+54.2490320

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