Dror Oren, PhD

Therapy

I trained as a clinical psychologist in psychotherapy with adults and adolescents at Bar-Ilan University and in the Youth and Adult Departments at Shalvata Mental Health Center. At the same time, I worked as a therapeutic instructor and later as a clinical-educational psychologist at the Tel Aviv Municipal Youth Center. I continued my clinical training at the Hof HaGalil Therapeutic Center in Nahariya, where I expanded my experience to include child psychotherapy, play therapy, dyadic therapy, and parent guidance.

Since qualifying as a clinical psychologist, I have maintained a private practice with adults, adolescents, children, and parents, working from an integrative perspective. For more than two decades, I have specialized in therapeutic work with parents and developed an in-depth model that approaches the parent as a subject in his or her own right: Psychodynamic Parenthood Therapy (PPT). My major Hebrew book in this field, Parenthood in Second Thought, was published in an expanded and updated edition, and more recently my English-language book, The Parent Within: An Integrative Guide to Psychodynamic Parenthood Therapy, was published. The model is generating professional interest and dialogue in Israel and internationally.

Alongside my clinical practice, I have worked for many years in educational psychology, providing clinical and systemic consultation to schools, kindergartens, and special education teams. This experience has deepened my work in developmental processes, systemic interventions, emergency situations, and the interface between clinical and educational psychology. Today, I teach and supervise psychologists and professional teams in these areas, with particular emphasis on therapeutic work with parents.

Supervision

I view supervision as a unique and empowering process between professional colleagues, in which a therapist chooses another therapist as a supervisor to support professional and personal development. Because therapists work first and foremost through their own personalities, relationships, and therapeutic presence, supervision moves between exploring the patient and the therapeutic process and examining the therapist's own feelings, relationships, transference, and countertransference.

I am a certified senior supervisor in psychotherapy and psychodiagnostics in both clinical and educational psychology. Over the years, I have supervised clinical and educational psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, expressive arts therapists, and other mental health professionals, both during specialization and in independent clinical practice.

Today, much of my supervision is devoted to experienced clinicians seeking to deepen and enhance their therapeutic work. I provide individual and group clinical supervision in my Karmiel clinic and online, with an emphasis on psychotherapy, in-depth psychodynamic work, and therapy with parents and adults. Those considering supervision with me may also find it useful to explore my writings and digital courses, which reflect my clinical perspective and way of thinking.

Academic Teaching & Psychotherapy Training

I have been involved in academic teaching and professional training of therapists since 1992, teaching courses in psychology, psychotherapy, and clinical practice in a variety of academic and professional settings.

I have taught and supervised at the University of Haifa School of Psychotherapy, the Psychotherapy Program at Tel Aviv University's Continuing Education Unit, and the M.A. Program in Educational Psychology at Tel-Hai Academic College until 2026. Earlier, I also taught at the northern extension of the Hebrew University School of Psychotherapy, the Technion, and Emuna, Oranim, and Western Galilee Colleges.

Today, I work as an independent teacher and supervisor, conducting courses, workshops, lectures, and advanced clinical training in my areas of expertise, both independently and through the EMPATHY association.

Books, Book Chapters, Articles & Development of Clinical Models

A central part of my professional work is devoted to research, writing, and the development of clinical models, published in books, academic chapters, and peer-reviewed journals in Israel and internationally. My work focuses on the concept of "the parent as a subject," on establishing parent psychotherapy as a distinct clinical field, and on developing Psychodynamic Parenthood Therapy (PPT).

My English-language book, The Parent Within: An Integrative Guide to Psychodynamic Parenthood Therapy, was published in 2026. The same year saw the publication of the Hebrew volume Beyond the Rupture: Working with Parents through Separation and Divorce, co-edited with Hila Kalai-Novotny. My other books include Parenthood in Second Thought: Therapeutic Work with Parents and Single Parenthood: Raising a Child Alone, based on my research on single parenthood.

I have also published chapters in academic books and articles in international journals, including Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, Psychodynamic Practice, Practice Innovations, and AI & SOCIETY. With colleagues, I have developed clinical models including Blocked and Realized Parenthood, Impossible Parenthood, and the Open Space model. Together with Eran Hadomi, I developed Talking Divorce, a therapeutic communication game for families experiencing separation and divorce.

EMPATHY: The Psychological Forum for Parent Consultation, Guidance & Therapy

In 2019, together with psychologist Hadas Ron-Gal, I initiated the professional community that became EMPATHY. In 2020, we expanded the initiative with approximately twenty leading professionals, and in 2022 it became a registered nonprofit association: EMPATHY, the Psychological Forum for Parent Consultation, Guidance and Therapy. I served as co-CEO and, since June 2026, have served as CEO alongside a steering committee of leading experts in the field.

EMPATHY provides a professional home and community for psychologists and psychotherapists throughout Israel. It works to advance therapy with parents and parenthood as an integrative professional discipline, deepen professional training and clinical knowledge, and improve and expand psychological support for parents in Israel.

Education & Professional Credentials

I hold a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Haifa (2003), an M.A. in Adult Clinical Psychology from Bar-Ilan University (1993), and a B.A. in Psychology through the Ofakim Outstanding Students Program at the University of Haifa (1989).

My professional credentials include a license to practice psychology (No. 4801), specialization in Clinical Psychology (4906), specialization in Educational Psychology (7188), and certification as a senior supervisor in Clinical Psychology in both psychotherapy and psychodiagnostics (7423), and in Educational Psychology (28541).

I have been a member of the Israel Psychological Association and the Israeli Association for Psychotherapy, where I served on the Governing Council and was responsible for ethics from 2013 to 2018.

My clinical perspective integrates psychodynamic thinking with humanistic and existential approaches, emphasizing emotional life and relationships alongside the search for meaning and purpose.

Academic & Independent Research

My clinical practice and teaching are continuously informed by academic and independent research. My Master's thesis at Bar-Ilan University, supervised by the late Prof. Victor Florian and Prof. Mario Mikulincer, examined childhood loss, perceptions and fears of death among religious and secular populations. My doctoral research at the University of Haifa, supervised by Dr. Moshe Almagor, examined tolerance for ambiguity, coping with stress, and psychological adaptation.

I later conducted an extensive independent study of single parenthood, combining an international literature review, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews with single mothers and fathers. Its findings were presented at international conferences and formed the basis of my book on the subject.

For more than twenty years, I have been continuously developing, writing, teaching, and supervising in the field of therapeutic work with parents and parenthood. In the early 2000s, I began supervising work with children and parents, and subsequently began developing and writing, both with colleagues and independently, clinical models and approaches to therapeutic work with parents. Over the years, this field has become a central focus of my clinical, research, and professional work. More recently, I have expanded my research and writing to contemporary clinical issues, including the impact of language models and artificial intelligence on child development, parenting, and the therapeutic relationship, alongside my continuing work on the dynamics of parent psychotherapy and interventions in situations of crisis, separation, and divorce.

Clinical Leadership, Professional Initiatives & Collaboration

In recent years, together with senior experts in the field of parent psychotherapy, I have been leading EMPATHY as a professional community of clinicians working with parents in Israel. EMPATHY works to advance therapeutic work with parents and parenthood as a professional discipline, to develop knowledge and professional training, and to strengthen the place of therapeutic work with parents within the mental health field in Israel.

Organizations, associations, institutions, and public agencies interested in consultation, professional training, developing initiatives, or collaboration in the field of therapeutic work with parents and parenthood are welcome to contact me at dr.dror.oren@gmail.com or EMPATHY at Empatiapsy@gmail.com.

Previously, from 2006 to 2009, I served as Director of the Institute for Emotional Counseling and Treatment at the Interdisciplinary Clinical Center, University of Haifa, headed by Prof. Rivka Yahav. In this role, I managed a multidisciplinary clinical team providing treatment and assessment services to the public and led distinctive clinical and research projects.

Among these, we conducted therapeutic interventions for children coping with anxiety following the Second Lebanon War and developed expressive and creative therapeutic models for Ethiopian-Israeli children. The outcomes of these projects were published in professional articles and chapters in academic books.