PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND EDUCATION
Psychological training for Jewish communities and the professionals who serve them
Kesher Shalom Projects is led by licensed clinicians. We train therapists, educators, clergy, healthcare teams, and organizational leaders to work with Jewish identity, antisemitism, and trauma from a clinical foundation.
Our areas of expertise
Antisemitism
Indoctrination
Radicalization
Resilience
Jewish Parenting Workshops
Jewish Identity and Trauma
Jewish Cultural Competency and Humility
Propaganda and Indoctrination Psychology
Difficult Conversations Across Difference
What is Kesher Shalom Projects?
Kesher Shalom Projects is a professional training and education organization founded by Malka Shaw, LCSW, a licensed clinical psychotherapist and trauma specialist. Kesher Shalom Projects turns clinical psychology into frameworks that clinicians, educators, clergy, healthcare teams, attorneys, and organizational leaders can use inside their own work.
It began in the weeks after October 7, 2023. Jewish therapists in a WhatsApp group asked for training on the psychological impact of antisemitism, because nothing in their graduate programs had prepared them for what was walking into their offices. One Zoom session was scheduled. What grew out of it is a full curriculum of continuing education, workshops, keynotes, and consultation delivered across the United States and online.
The work is clinical and psychoeducational. Kesher Shalom Projects does not do political advocacy, and every framework we teach is built to be used by a professional in a room with a real person in front of them.
Two ways to work with us
Bring a training to your organization
Give your staff, clergy, faculty, or clinical team the language and the tools to respond to antisemitism and to support Jewish colleagues, patients, students, and clients with confidence. Keynotes, half-day and full-day trainings, professional development series, and ongoing consultation. Virtual or in person.
For synagogues, day schools, federations, JCCs, camps, hospitals, universities, school districts, law firms, corporations, government agencies, and nonprofits.
Train as a clinician
Build working Jewish cultural competency and learn frameworks you can use in session on Monday morning. Continuing education courses, clinical workshops, and case consultation for licensed mental health professionals.
Our signature programs
Kesher Shalom Projects teaches four named frameworks. Each one was built for a specific problem and a specific audience, and each one can be delivered as a standalone training or as part of a longer series.
A trauma-informed resilience framework for people who are living through ongoing stress rather than recovering from it. Two pathways: one for licensed clinicians, one for community and organizational leaders.
The GUARD System®
For clinicians, clergy, educators, nonprofit and healthcare leaders
A trauma-informed resilience framework for people who are living through ongoing stress rather than recovering from it. Two pathways: one for licensed clinicians, one for community and organizational leaders.
The BRIDGE™ Protocol
For clinicians, clergy, educators, nonprofit and healthcare leaders
ORAH™ Parenting Program
Orient. Relate. Analyze. Hold Identity. A parenting framework built on psychological inoculation research, for raising children with a Jewish identity strong enough to meet what they will encounter.
For parents, day schools, synagogues, JCCs, federations, and camps
Jewish Cultural Competency
& Cultural Humility
Training that gives professionals real working knowledge of Jewish identity, peoplehood, and contemporary antisemitism, along with the skills to act on it in a clinical room, a classroom, or an office.
For healthcare systems, schools and universities, corporations, law firms, government agencies, and nonprofits
Which program fits which need?
| Program | What It Does | Built For | Delivered As |
|---|---|---|---|
| The GUARD System® | Builds resilience while the stress is still happening | Clinicians, community and organizational leaders | Clinical training with CE, or leadership training |
| The BRIDGE™ Protocol | Makes hard conversations across difference possible again | Clinicians, educators, parents, community leaders | Workshop, professional development series |
| ORAH™ Parenting Program | Prepares children before a crisis rather than after | Parents, schools, synagogues, camps, federations | Parent program, community workshop |
| Jewish Cultural Competency & Cultural Humility | Gives professionals working knowledge of Jewish identity and antisemitism | Healthcare, education, corporate, legal, government, nonprofit | Keynote, half-day, full-day, leadership retreat, custom |
Why does a clinical psychology organization work on antisemitism?
“ Most psychological models assume the danger has passed before healing begins.
Ours were built for people who are still inside it. “
Kesher Shalom Projects exists because a gap in clinical training became impossible to ignore. Jewish identity is one of the least represented identities in multicultural and cultural competency education, and after October 7, 2023 a great many well-trained professionals found they had no framework for what their Jewish clients, students, patients, and colleagues were bringing them.
We are not asking anyone to take a political position. We teach the psychology: how identity destabilizes under sustained threat, how propaganda and indoctrination operate psychologically, how to practice cultural humility, and how to hold difficult conversations without losing the relationship. Every framework we teach is built for professional practice.
Who leads the work
Malka Shaw, LCSW
Founder and Director
Malka Shaw, LCSW is a licensed clinical psychotherapist, trauma specialist, and educator. She founded Kesher Shalom Projects after Jewish therapists began asking her for training that did not exist anywhere else. She teaches the GUARD, BRIDGE, and ORAH frameworks and speaks to clinical, communal, and organizational audiences across the country.
The Kesher Shalom Projects team
Robyn Sheiniuk, LCSW
Lisa Mustard, LMFT
Julie Riga, MBA
Jodi Taub, LCSW
What clinicians and organizations say
This workshop was exactly what I needed as a Jewish therapist working in a difficult time. Being able to feel safe, and not alone, while learning new tools to treat trauma for clients and clinicians alike was such a gift.
Naomi Taffet, LCSW-C, VAS-III
I attended one of the Shalom Workshops on "Working with Jewish Clients in a time of War." The speakers create a very open supportive environment to address many sensitive topics offering practical skills as well. I highly recommend it.
CK, LCSWR
Kesher Shalom Projects is doing amazing work! As the director of the newly started Antisemitism department at the Orthodox Union, my work is closely tied to the college students who are facing many challenges on campus. This workshop is extremely invaluable for the rabbinical directors on college campuses who work closely with the students. I highly recommend this training and appreciate the work Kesher Shalom Projects is doing.
Matthew Abramowitz
Director, Antisemitism Taskforce Department
Orthodox Union
40 Rector Street New York, NY 10004
Bring Kesher Shalom Projects to your organization
Tell us who your people are and what they are dealing with. We reply within 24 to 48 hours.