Dr. Schaham received her Doctorate degree (PhD) in counseling from the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences in Capella University, Minnesota, USA, her Graduate degree (MA) in Marriage and Family Therapy from Hahnemann University (Drexel University today), Philadelphia, USA, and her Bachelor degree (BA) in Occupational Therapy from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. She has authored and been quoted in several articles in professional journals. Some of the additional Special Trainings include Introductory and Intermediate Level training in Clinical Hypnosis, Certificate studies in Marriage and Family Therapy Supervisors Training in Tel Aviv University School of Social Work, and Certification studies in Art-Therapy in Haifa University, Israel.
Dr. Schaham is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Pennsylvania, USA, and Israel, with over 20 years of work experience. She is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), and a clinical member and approved supervisor in the Israeli AMFT. Dr. Schaham is a faculty in Tel-Aviv University. She teaches courses in psychology and family, one of them is “The Patient’s Family”. Ofra offers seminars and lectures on this topic to mental health institutions and clinicians.
Dr. Schaham has a private practice in Tel-Aviv, Israel. In her practice she sees clients with diverse issues and complains, using the philosophy and principles of Contextual Therapy. Ofra studied under the renowned Ivan Boszormenyi-Nagy, the founder of Contextual Therapy who also mentored her graduate thesis and provided clinical supervision during her internship. One of Ofra’s focuses was the dynamics of sibling relationships within families with dysfunctional parenting. Ofra is committed to continue to use and teach Nagy’s unique philosophy and therapeutic approach. She believes this approach achieves lasting results. Dr. Schaham offers it to all her clients, whether they come for individual, couples, or family therapy, and teaches it to her students and interested therapists.
As an avid ballroom dancer, Ofra chose to examine in her doctoral dissertation how self-esteem and the need to belong correlate among adult ballroom dancers. Again and again, she saw confirmed the power of communication between couples. This, of course, is the overall goal of the therapy she offers: to improve communication between individuals on all levels. In order to achieve this goal, Ofra draws from her theoretical knowledge as well as her clinical and personal experience, continually striving to keep her therapeutic tools up to date.
