For over forty years, the Summit Institute has worked in conjunction with Israel’s Ministries of Health, Defense, and Social Welfare as well as the Jerusalem municipality and National Insurance Institute, to provide psychological rehabilitation and promote the welfare of three populations with unique treatment needs.
Young Adults Struggling with Mental Illness
The Summit Institute offers groundbreaking rehabilitative treatment within the community for young people suffering from a variety of mental illnesses. The services include personal rehabilitative therapy, group therapy, psychiatric guidance, occupational therapy, a therapeutic treatment community, and assisted living.
At-Risk Children
The Summit Institute provides support and guidance for children who have been removed from their homes after experiencing abuse or extreme neglect. Summit recruits and trains foster families for these complicated and critical roles, offering therapeutic and educational services for foster children as well as professional guidance for foster parents through support groups, enrichment activities, and comprehensive assistance.
The Mahut Center
In cooperation with the Jerusalem municipality, the Summit Institute operates the Mahut Center, a treatment and educational center for parents of adolescents. Mahut offers individual counseling as well as professional training for staff and administrators working in this field.
The Summit Institute provides comprehensive, sensitive, professional support for special-needs populations in order to promote psychological rehabilitation and to help them transition to active, healthy, community life. All the organization’s programs are guided by a set of steadfast principles:
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Human dignity
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Responsibility
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Accountability
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Excellence
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Personal growth and development
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Cooperation
Management and Board of Directors
Message from the Executive Director
As someone deeply involved and invested in the fields of psychotherapy and rehabilitation, I am proud to stand at the head of the Summit Institute, which has cared for approximately 1,900 mentally-ill young adults, at-risk youth, and parents over the last forty years.
In the professional world, the Summit Institute is renowned for our constant efforts to optimize, improve, and expand the ways we provide treatment and rehabilitation for children, adolescents, young adults, and parents.
Since 1973, the Summit Institute has been a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation and psychotherapy, providing treatment for young people suffering from mental trauma and advocating for in-community rehabilitation, rather than in isolated psychiatric hospitals. From the beginning, Summit has been considered a trailblazer by the professional community in the field of comprehensive psychosocial therapy, guiding participants in our rehabilitative frameworks on their journeys to healthy, independent lives.
In 2003, the Summit Institute took on the complex task of overseeing and operating the foster care system for Israel’s Jerusalem and Southern regions. Summit is responsible for recruiting foster families, placing at-risk youth, supporting foster families, and creating an active, professional community for foster families and children.
The Summit Institute works closely with the Jerusalem municipality to operate the Mahut Center for parents of adolescents. The Mahut Center provides therapy and guidance for parents who need professional support in raising their teenage children. It offers professional training and lectures alongside individual, family, and group therapy.
I am particularly proud of the way the Summit Institute holds fast to its standards of excellence as we grow and develop. Our staff is comprised of leading Israeli professionals who receive ongoing training in their individual fields, continuously evolving and gaining professional recognition. The Summit Institute, and I personally, believe strongly in the importance of face-to-face interaction with every participant, using in-depth insights and an integrative, cooperative approach to treatment that takes into account all facets of the child, adolescent, or young adult’s life.
With my professional knowledge of the world of treatment and psychotherapy, the work of the Summit Institute gives me a new thrill each day. I am proud to be at the head of this institution and especially proud to lead its staff of upbeat, committed professionals who work hard to improve lives with hope and meaning.
Sincerely,
Yoni Bogot
Executive Director, Summit Institute
The members of the Summit Institute Board of Directors serve on a volunteer basis. They guide the organization’s activities and each contributes unique expertise:
Mr. Gadi Robin - Chairperson
Mr. Yossi Granot
Ms. Adina Halevi
Mr. Amos Spivak
Mr. Yossi Antebi
Mr. Ariel Kanori
Mr. Ezri Levi
Professional Staff
Yoni Bogot
Executive Director of the Summit Institute
4 HaSadna Street, Jerusalem
Netta Siboni
Director of Foster Care Services
4 HaSadna Street, Jerusalem
Danny Steinberg
Head Psychologist
4 HaSadna Street, Jerusalem
Sharona Sharet
Administrative, Finance, and Accessibility Director
4 HaSadna Street, Jerusalem
Mira Werker - link to mail
Director of Resource Development and Public Relations
Beit Hillel Building, 4 Rambam Street, Beer Sheva
Yael Pross Gantz
Fundraising and International Relations
4 HaSadna Street, Jerusalem
About
The Summit Institute was founded in 1973 by three therapists and educators led by Zvi Stiskin, an American immigrant. In its early years, operating in Almagor in the foothills of the Golan Heights, Summit worked primarily with American participants. The Yom Kippur War drove Summit to move to Jerusalem and, following the treatment success of the original American group, activities were expanded to include Israeli youth. In 1976, an agreement was signed with Dr. Mordechai Kaufmann and the Kibbutz Movement, brought twelve more participants to the Summit Institute. In 1977, Chaim Deutsch took over the adolescent therapeutic community. At the end of 1980, the Summit Institute opened an outpatient clinic run by the late Chanita Berman. With time, this clinic would grow to a network of hostels that would later become the adult therapeutic community.
Israeli Health Minister Eliezer Shostak visited the Summit Institute in 1980, leading to widespread recognition of the organization’s work and an influx of youth from around the country, not only from the Kibbutz Movement. Participants from the American, kibbutz, and external divisions began each morning at the Summit Institute’s rehabilitative employment center.
In 1994, the Summit Institute ceased receiving funding from United States insurers and closed the American department. Soon after, Chaim Deutsch took over Summit’s management.
Under Chaim's leadership, the psychotherapy units were expanded and, following mental health reforms, the assisted living program was established. In 2003 the Summit Institute was awarded the tender to manage foster care in the Jerusalem and Southern regions. In 2008, the Mahut Center was opened in partnership with the Jerusalem municipality and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to support parents of struggling adolescents.
Chaim Deutsch continued to lead the Summit Institute until 2009 and was succeeded by Yoni Bogot.
Areas of Operation
1. Foster Care and Emergency Foster Shelter Families
The Summit Institute operates and manages services for foster families and emergency shelter foster families in Jerusalem and the Southern region, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Welfare. These networks offer the best temporary solution for at-risk youth who are unable to remain in their homes.
Services from the Center for Foster Families
· Guidance and training for foster and emergency shelter families by foster care social workers
· Overseeing proper development of foster children and adolescents in all aspects of their lives
· Establishment and maintenance of a database of available foster families
· Fundraising in order to continue expanding the resources available to foster children and families
2. Mental Health and Rehabilitation
Summit provides treatment for mentally-ill young adults struggling with day-to-day functioning, many after recent hospitalizations. The psychotherapy program is based on comprehensive psychosocial treatment methods, which include psychological counseling, psychiatric treatment, and occupational therapy.
The Summit Institute operates the following treatment units:
Adolescent Therapeutic Community
Therapeutic Community for Young Adults
Assisted Living
Vocational Support Center
Sports Center
3. The Mahut Center – Support for Parents of Adolescents
The Summit Institute operates the Mahut Center for parents of adolescents in partnership with the Jerusalem municipality. Mahut offers treatment and guidance for parents who need professional support in raising their teenage children. The Mahut Center provides professional training and lectures as well as individual, family, and group therapy.
Documents and Reports
Every year, the Summit Institute widens its range of programs to help improve the psychological, physical, educational, and occupational prospects of thousands of children, teenagers, and young adults who are part of the organization's psychotherapy and foster care networks.
Foster care programs include:
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Group therapy for foster children, their biological parents, and their foster parents
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Unique seminars and workshops for foster parents
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Private remedial training groups for foster children
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Life skills development programs for foster children
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Computer skills training programs for foster children
Psychotherapy and mental health programs include:
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Art therapy and workshops
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Drama workshops
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Therapeutic sport center
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Participant mentoring program
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Job training scholarships
In order to continue launching and operating innovative, efficient programming for the Summit Institute’s target populations, the organization relies on contributions, partnerships, and sponsorships.
For more information, please call: +972-2-6733548, ext: 4.
Partners and Supporters
Joseph and Leelah Gitler
קרן ע"ש מנחם בר-און
קרן ע"ש ד"ר מריה פולנסקי ז"ל
JDC-Ashalim
קרן סובול
The Summit Institute initiates a range of programs to help improve the psychological, physical, educational, and occupational prospects of approximately 1,700 children, teenagers, and young adults each year.
Funding from private donors is vital to ensuring that these and other programs can continue to operate.
The projects include:
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Group therapy for children, young adults, foster children, and parents
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Private remedial training groups, life skills development programs, computer skills training programs, seminars, and workshops for foster children and parents
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In the past, Summit operated drama and art therapy programs, physical fitness, participant-to-participant mentoring, specialized job training scholarships, and more, and hopes to continue providing these unique services in the future
All contributions to the Summit Institute are recognized for tax purposes under Article 46a
Donations can be made:
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Online, through this secure site
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By sending a check payable to the Summit Institute to PO Box 10234, Jerusalem, 91101
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Via bank transfer to:
First International Bank of Israel
Talpiot branch #074, Jerusalem
Account #409220604
Invoices for tax purposes will be sent to the donor’s address when the donation is received.
Photos from the Summit Institute Programming
 President’s ResidenceFamily Day 2016 |  Yetzir Kapayimthe Summit Institute Studio and Store |  Foster Care Forest 2012 |
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 Beer ShevaBranch Evening |  Foster Care Forest 2012 |  Purim Party 2016Kiryat Malachi branch, sponsored by Yes |
 Foster Care Forest 2012 |  Superland 2015 |  Beer ShevaBranch Evening |
 Superland 2015 |  Beer ShevaBranch Evening |  Staff Photo, Superland 2017 |