PAU’s Dr. Yotam Heineberg
Stresses Compassion in
Societal Trauma and Violence
n working with the most trau-
matized and violent people in
American society, such as gang members,
children involved with gangs, inner-city
kids and veterans, I discovered that un-
derneath the violence is anger, and under
that anger is pain,” says Dr. Yotam Heine-
berg. “But when I sat and collaborated with
them, what I saw inside was goodness and
that appeared to be an agent of healing,” he added.
Dr. Heineberg leads the Compassion Training Initiative at Palo Alto University, under which the model
of Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is concentrated in academic programs and in a clinical setting at
the Gronowski Center. He joined the PAU faculty in
2012 after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the
Center for Compassion, and Altruism, Research and
Education (CCARE) at Stanford University. He is also
an alumnus of PAU where he earned his doctorate in
psychology in via the PGSP/Stanford Psy.D. Consortium in 2010.
Dr. Heineberg’s commitment to a compas-
sion-based approach to trauma and violence is rooted
in his lived experience of having been born and raised
in Israel. He is also quick to acknowledge
other important influences: “ I was very
lucky to have wonderful mentors such as
Dr. Rony Berger, an international trauma
expert, and Dr. Philip Zimbardo who is a
PAU faculty member,” he declares. In his
work with them, “it became clear that
children who engage in aggression, have
often experienced trauma themselves, so
a need arose to reduce their symptoms, in order to
also help reduce their anger/aggression.”
Yet for Dr. Heineberg, reducing symptoms is not
enough; increasing compassion and kindness by “add-
ing it to the recipe of healing” is necessary to address
the cycle of violence in society and individuals. It is
a matter of scope; applying CFT principles on three
levels—individually in psychotherapy, community en-
gagement via training of professionals, and web-based
interventions (inspired by the work of PAU’s Dr. Ri-
cardo Muñoz)—expands the possibilities for reaching
large numbers of people to effect real societal change.
By infusing the human quality of compassion at the
institutional level, Dr. Heineberg personifies PAU’s
commitment to improving lives around the globe.
“ I
Dr. Yotam Heineberg
Palo Alto University
1791 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto CA 94304
800-818-6136 • Fax 650-433-3888 • admissions@paloaltou.edu • www.paloaltou.edu
Accredited by the American Psychological Association and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
