Haim Omer

Hello, my name is Prof. Haim Omer and I was born in Brazil in 1949 to a Jewish Holocaust survivor family. At the age of 18, I emigrated to Israel, and a year later I began studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Received a bachelor's degree in psychology, and then spent four years doing research. At the age of 28, received a master's degree in psychology. After receiving this diploma, worked for several years as a therapist in various schools and institutions. After that, I returned to the Hebrew University to earn a Ph.D. in psychology and pedagogy. Since 1988 I have been a professor at Tel Aviv University. The common thread in my work is the relationship between parents and children. I have a family - a wife and five kids. I thank my children with great gratitude for the fact that they not only introduced me to my "parental helplessness", but also helped me overcome it. Now my goal is to contact and strengthen those voices, thus reducing the power of the voices of death.

In the past 15 years, my main professional endeavor has been to provide guidelines and strategies for advancing parental and teacher authority in ways that are acceptable and reasonable in the context of a more democratic society. My works "Non-violent resistance: A new approach to violent and self-destructive children'' and "The new authority: family school and community" are where I primarily explain these concepts. The New Authority Center and The International Society for Non-Violent-Resistance Psychology are two groups committed to the adoption and dissemination of this strategy.

My research focuses on helping parents of grown children who exhibit a pattern of "entitled dependence" parental education for parents of violent and self-destructive children and adolescents, parental education for parents of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, and the development of school- and community-based interventions for the prevention of youth violence and self-risk behaviors. This method was initially created in Israel and is currently used in several treatment facilities all over the world.

Studied at:

1968-1971 Hebrew Univ. Degree - B.A. (Psychology)

1975-1977 Hebrew Univ. Degree - M.A. (Psychology)

1983-1986 Hebrew Univ. Degree - Ph. D. (Psychology)

Master’s Thesis: The Management of Guilt in the Major Religions

Supervisor: Zeev Klein

Doctoral Dissertation: Psychological Factors in Preterm Labor

Supervisors: Dov Friedlander and Zvi Palti

Further studies:

1986-1987 Harvard. Degree - Postdoc. (Psychology)

Academic and professional experience

1971-1975 IDF/Psychology institution, Research department, Investigator

1975-1977 Neve-Zeelim institution, School department, Therapist

1977-1979 IDF/Mental Health institution, Clinic department, Therapist

1979-1981 Ezrath Nashim institution, Clinic department, Therapist

1981-1983 Hebrew University, Counseling department, Therapist

1981-1986 Hebrew University, Psychology department, Lecturer

1986-1987 Harvard University, Education department, Post-doctoral student

1988-1998 Tel-Aviv University, Psychology department, Senior Lecturer

1993 Tel-Aviv University, Psychology department, Tenure

Since 1998 Tel-Aviv University, Psychology department, Associate Professor

Author of more than eighty scholarly articles and eleven books that have been translated into twelve languages.

Most popular Amazon Psychology books include:

Omer, H. (2021) Non-violent resistance: A new approach to violent and self-destructive children. 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press.

The new authority: Family, school and community (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

Parental vigilant care: A guide for clinicians and caretakers (Routledge, 2017)

The psychology of demonization (with Nahi Alon, Lawrence Erlbaum 2006 – the book was graced with a preface by the Dalai Lama)

Treating child and adolescent anxiety: A guide for caregivers (with Eli Lebowitz, Wiley, 2013).