“D,” a lone soldier from California, found himself serving in the Israel Defense Forces during a difficult time nationally and also personally.

While helping to defend the country against attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon toward the beginning of the war, D learned that his mother was terminally ill.

The next summer, after finishing reserve duty and coping with his mother’s steady decline, he was chosen to participate in a therapeutic trip to the K Bar L Ranch and Medicine Springs in Montana with his army unit.

It was the inaugural cohort of Healing in Nature, an Israel-based nonprofit devoted to the wellbeing of IDF combat veteran teams.

From June 24 to July 1, D and his comrades disconnected from the world and regained their equilibrium with the help of outdoor activities and sessions with mental-health professionals who are themselves IDF veterans.

“It was a very lifechanging trip,” D told ISRAEL21c from his army base in the north during another tour of reserve duty.

“Some of the most meaningful parts were group therapy twice a day with great therapists. I serve with a bunch of these guys and I learned so much about them and the similarities of what we are going through. Everyone was open about the war and their personal lives,” he says.

D’s mother was moved to hospice care while D was at K Bar L. She has since passed away.

“Having the support of my friends and the staff there, and to share with them, was remarkably valuable. I think the experience made all of us significantly closer and more comfortable talking about what we’re dealing with in our personal lives and continuing some of the mindfulness habits we learned, like recognizing what we’re feeling and taking a second to process it and see how we want to respond,” says D.

“Being in nature was an incredible experience. For me, the best part was horseback riding; for others it was fishing,” he said.

This was the first introduction to America for many of the guys on the trip and I commend the thoughtful and generous family that hosted us –they may have been the most special part of this experience.”

Saddled up and jumped on

HiN founder Omri Barkin explains that ranch owners Adam and Emily Wallis are family friends. After his mandatory IDF service from 2013 to 2016, Barkin spent the summer at K Bar L and found the experience “amazing.”

“No Internet, no Wi-Fi — completely disconnected. The hospitality was outstanding and had a big impact on us. I had a dream to share this experience with other IDF combat veterans.”

Following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, Barkin helped soldiers with donations of food and tactical gear. “At some point I saw they didn’t need more gear or food but what they really will needed is help in mental wellness.”

He and his brother-in-law Roei Friedberg – a combat veteran who had returned to Israel from New York to do reserve duty – decided to “do something that has a big impact to help soldiers with trauma.”

They reached out to their contacts to create a therapeutic team, and they reached out to Adam and Emily Wallis.

“Two or three years ago, I did another program of processing military experiences with my team and it was nice. But I had Montana and K Bar L in my head, and I wanted to bring everyone there,” Barkin explains. “There is something important about disconnecting physically from Israel if you’re really trying to disconnect mentally as well.”

Adam Wallis tells ISRAEL21c that “we were on board from the start because we are Jewish and work every day to repair this world. We also know the power of what the K Bar L ranch and the wilderness in Montana can do for the soul. So when Omri asked us to be a part of bringing what he got from the ranch to other IDF soldiers, we saddled up and jumped on.”

Down on the ranch

Barkin and Friedberg incorporated technology, research and data in their endeavor, “to provide proof to ourselves and to participants that we actually have an impact and it’s not just a fun week in Montana.”

They also decided not to take individuals but rather “an organic group that have known each other for some time and served together.”

Friedberg explains: “The impact of unprocessed trauma goes beyond the individual — it affects future generations. I have relatives who struggled with PTSD following the First Lebanon War. ‏This made me realize how crucial it is to break this cycle. ‏One of my core missions in HiN is to ensure that our programs reach everyone, especially those in battalions who often have fewer resources for rehabilitation. It’s vital that they feel seen and supported, just like those in special units.”

‏Soon after they put the word out through informal channels they had 18 teams wanting to sign up.

“For our first group, it was important to us to provide this for underserved units, and we chose a reserve team from 890th Paratroop platoon,” says Barkin.

These participants are not diagnosed with PTSD, yet they report dealing with distress in multiple life domains stemming from their recent service.

“A month before we flew, our team of therapists and scientists from Cambridge, Harvard, and Tel Aviv and Haifa universities did a four- to five-hour evaluation of each participant to make sure we know who they are and what they are going through and what they might need, to tailor the program for each individual.”

Two weeks before, each participant filled out a short questionnaire five times a day on their phone. During the program, they also answered a questionnaire at the end of each day to help determine what activities were most beneficial.

Significant results

“Every day we tried to provide a variety of therapeutic sessions because different people need different things” such as yoga and movement, group therapy sessions, horseback riding, river swimming, nature walks, volleyball and other outdoor activities. The ranch has a geothermal spring and is surrounded by 1.5 million acres of wilderness.

“In our team’s opinion, the processing and therapy doesn’t start and end in a formal counseling session but continues when you go out in nature and talk to your teammates. One therapist explained that it creates a different feeling of trust and connection.”

A month after their return, another evaluation was done using written feedback as well as passive data from a biofeedback ring that measures stress levels, heart rate, and sleep.

Initial results, still being evaluated, “show significant reductions in trauma-related symptoms, negative beliefs, and cognitions, maladaptive responses to distress, and negative perceptions of themselves post-service,” says Barkin, who has a degree in industrial engineering and management from Afeka Academic College of Engineering.

He credits the Wallis family, who “made the veterans feel they were seen” with thoughtful touches such as handwritten notes on their beds, for sponsoring the first group “from start to finish, with a cash donation and donating their ranch.” They’ve committed to hosting three more groups next June.

“Often the soldiers feel a lack of purpose after coming back from combat environments. When an American Jew tells you that your fighting ‘helps us in the diaspora,’ it gives you extra motivation and meaning,” says Barkin.

Demand is crazy

One participant said his own father’s mental health was compromised by his combat duty in the Yom Kippur War of 1973, “and he came on the trip to ensure that his children will have a better future than what he had.”

Another revealed in his evaluation that he’d had “trouble finding his inner peace and here I found it again. The tools I gained will forever help me. It’s heartwarming to know people cared for me.”

Barkin says he and his staff don’t expect to “cure everyone in a week. We provide tools they can start using when they go home, though we don’t provide therapy post-program.”

What they do provide to D and the others who returned is an HiN alumni community.

“Just the week isn’t enough; the real struggle for people who’ve gone through trauma is going back to reality, for example trying to study after not being in college for 10 months. The alumni community continues to support them,” says Barkin.

As for supporting HiN itself, he adds, “We are working on crowdfunding and other fundraising campaigns in Israel and abroad because demand is crazy.”

For more information, click here.

Originally posted at israel21c.org