The Feuerstein method: Mobilizing to address rehabilitating brain-injured soldiers

The foundation of the Feuerstein method lies in hope, rooted in the belief in human potential and the premise that the brain can be changed through appropriate intervention.

By REFAEL FEUERSTEIN DECEMBER 24, 2024 02:43

Israeli soldiers evacuate wounded people near the Israeli border with Lebanon, September 19, 2024 (photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

Aaron was the most severely injured soldier in Operation Protective Edge in 2014. He was a paratrooper officer who suffered a critical head injury from an explosive device on the day after his wedding.

Aaron’s condition was dire. He hovered between life and death, and his survival was nothing short of miraculous. He was the son of a dear friend of mine, so I followed his journey closely as he grappled with his wound. Even after being discharged from the rehabilitation department, his condition remained severe, and his functionality was impaired on many levels.

In his fragile and painful state, terrified of his new reality, Aaron met with Prof. Reuven Feuerstein, my late father, who asked him, “What are you good at? What do you enjoy learning?” Aaron replied, “Talmud.” 

“And what do you find difficult to learn?” Feuerstein continued. “English.”

Prof. Feuerstein’s response was firm and surprising: “You will study both Talmud and English.” This declaration seemed absurd to everyone in the room, including Aaron himself.

IDF SOLDIERS evacuate the wounded from near the Israeli border with Lebanon in 2024. (credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)

But Feuerstein had unwavering faith in the rehabilitation process that Aaron would undergo at the institute he had founded. He succeeded in inspiring Aaron and his family with his belief in the ability of the human spirit to heal and change, even under the most challenging circumstances.

Aaron underwent a transformative rehabilitation process involving multidisciplinary treatments. Over time, he managed to significantly improve his abilities, almost entirely restoring his functionality. Since then, he has successfully completed a bachelor’s degree and become the father of wonderful children, and he is currently establishing a new unit in the IDF composed of disabled veterans. This unit’s mission is to support the rehabilitation of IDF soldiers newly wounded in the Israel-Hamas War.

When asked where his rehabilitation journey began, Aaron unequivocally pointed to Feuerstein’s pivotal statement at the start of his treatment. Indeed, this represents the cornerstone of the Feuerstein method, not only for head trauma victims but for many others.

Foundation of the method lies in hope 

The foundation of the Feuerstein method lies in hope, rooted in the belief in human potential and the premise that the brain can be changed through appropriate intervention. Typically, the brain governs and “educates” us, dictating our functionality. However, Feuerstein’s approach asserts that humans can, in fact, “educate” the brain.

Concepts that Feuerstein advocated 60 years ago are increasingly validated by modern neuroscience, particularly in the field of neuroplasticity – often referred to as “the flexible brain.”

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However, belief in change and the drive for transformation are not enough on their own. A long, professional path is required to achieve such change.

Feuerstein’s method emphasizes cognition and thinking. It teaches and rehabilitates head trauma patients to think through motor movements, to think about communication and speech, and to think about emotional intelligence, interpersonal interactions, and memory.

NOBEL LAUREATE Prof. Daniel Kahneman, who passed away in March, described two cognitive systems in his work: the intuitive system (System 1) and the rational system (System 2). 

System 1, which largely governs us, relies on past experience. It operates automatically, quickly, and unconsciously. When a person’s brain is injured, they face difficulties with memory, disorientation, and speech, which create a block, rendering past experiences – whether consciously recalled or not – ineffective against a new, foreign, and threatening reality.

Feuerstein’s method trains System 2 through a unique interaction called the Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). This interaction teaches individuals to become aware and take control of the processes happening in their brains.

MLE, applied at the Feuerstein Institute, teaches individuals – whether head trauma victims or those with normative functionality – two critical things: awareness of their mental processes and control over those processes.

One of our current rehabilitation patients at the institute, a once-brilliant software engineer, emotionally recounted how a significant milestone in his rehabilitation journey was being able to pour water from a jug into a glass without spilling. He explained in detail how he achieved this, describing the planning of his movements and the strategies he had to employ to control them.

Nathan (a pseudonym), another patient, had dreamed of opening his own restaurant in Netanya. But after suffering a severe brain injury from an explosive device – an injury that he miraculously survived, much like Aaron – he came to the Feuerstein Institute unable to utter a single word and with extremely low functionality.

Through a rehabilitation process that focused on learning and thinking strategies, he regained his speech and functionality. To motivate him, we linked his rehabilitation goals to his pre-wound dream.

Ultimately, we built a cafeteria at the Feuerstein Institute, which he successfully managed. Following a significant and multidisciplinary rehabilitation process, he has since married a psychologist with whom he now has three children.

The first step in any rehabilitation journey is belief in change. Without this belief, neither the patient, their family, nor their therapists can muster the energy required to drive transformation. 

The second step is patiently mediating learning strategies that enable the head trauma survivor to regain control of their speech (with the help of skilled speech therapists), their functionality (through occupational therapists), their family and community life (through social workers), and their trauma (with the assistance of rehabilitation psychologists).

The Feuerstein Institute is now mobilizing to address the immense challenge facing Israeli society: rehabilitating the hundreds of brain-injured soldiers from the Israel-Hamas War. This effort is being carried out at our centers in Jerusalem, Rishon Lezion, Sderot, and soon Beersheba.

The writer is president & CEO of the Feuerstein Institute.