Episode 12


 “People can have a bad day, a bad year, and a bad life, and it’s okay.”

Galit Draizin-Itzhaki


Description

In this episode we discuss with Galit Draizin-Itzhaki the variety of mental health issues that often are related and lead to people going missing, whether it is children or adults. We also discuss the warning signs and prevention strategies which professionals and friends and relatives should be mindful of.

Guest

Galit Draizin – Itzhaki

Galit Draizin-Itzhaki is a psychotherapist, profiler for high-risk populations, and a strategic consultant to public organisations for prevention in high-risk situations in Israel. She is also a group advisor, and a specialist in the fields of missing persons, suicides, and education management.

Galit has received her Master’s degree from the University of Haifa in 2002, in the field of Couples and Family Therapy. She has since then continued to evolve professionally and specialised as Jungian Psychotherapist and as a Criminal Profiler.

Galit has recently developed the “empathic questioning” model for families of missing persons. These days she is working on interfacing this questioning model to an AI platform. This may help to better understand who the missing person is, and to make recommendations for fast tracing. It will also act as a suicide risk assessment tool.

During her 20+ years professional career, and in addition to her work with individuals in her private clinic, Galit has been working and volunteering in many different fields and with various authorities, such as the Israeli Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and also with the Police Negotiations Squad, and with ex-convicts. However, Galit’s main focus is in the fields of missing persons, suicide, and risk populations.

Resources

  1. Mental health: World Health Organisation
  2. Suicide and Associated Vulnerability Indicators in Adult Missing Persons: Implications for the Police Risk Assessment
  3. Mental health and psychosocial support for families of missing persons in Sri Lanka: A retrospective cohort study (2020)
  4. Navigating limbo: help-seeking for mental health problems among loved ones of missing persons (2022)