Dream Doctors are in the news...

Here in Israel, as horror movies popularize the idea of "scary clowns", we are dealing with the "creepy clown craze" that swept the United States before us.

Dream Doctors medical clowns are reacting to this disturbing phenomenon as they do during crises in the hospitals and in disaster zones, with love and hope.

Below you'll find some of the Dream Doctors' thoughts which we've shared with our followers, including an interview on Channel 11 news.

And we invite you to read this recent research study, supported by the Dream Doctors Research Fund, that shows only 1% of hospitalized children in Israel fear the clowns.

We hope that you'll join us in reminding the world that real clowns work to ease fear and anxiety and not create it. And if you want to share with us why you love the Dream Doctors, we would be very happy to hear it!

Dream Doctor David Barashi offered his perspective in an interview with Channel 11 news in Israel (in Hebrew with English subtitles).

Dream Doctor Cris Lartiste used his behind-the-scenes photos from our most recent annual seminar to make this sweet video "We Are Good Clowns".

Dream Doctor Avital Dvory published her thoughts in Haaretz*:

Medical Clowns vs. Scary Clowns - Experience in Public Relations
I am Avital Dvori, 42 years old, mother of two children, medical clown for 15 years in an amazing project called "Dream Doctors" - "clowns in the service of medicine."
As part of my clowning work, I support and accompany sick children and their families in difficult moments of pain, anxiety, trauma and the end of life. I teach medical teams and medical clowns in Israel and around the world, I have published an academic article in the field and I am currently working on my doctorate on the subject.
I can say briefly that I am professional. A professional medical clown.

We, the clowns in this organization, are professional artists who have undergone long-term training and studies in the field of performance in Israel and abroad, and then training for intimate work with children in the hospital. We are all professionals.
Our goal, the medical clowns in Dream Doctors, is to make the patients we meet feel better about themselves. We help them remember their inner strength, which strengthens the immune system and the ability to rehabilitate the patient. Thus, an experience of treatment or hospitalization that could have been construed as traumatic is reinterpreted. We do this by way of acting, fantasy and humor.

Our work over the years is perceived to be so significant that we have become an integral and permanent part of the various hospitals in Israel, accompanying children during medical procedures that are frightening and anxiety-provoking (such as surgery, injections, cuts, and long-term treatments such as chemotherapy).

Know that behind every real clown there is a special personality that travels around the world in order to spread joy and love, reduce anxiety and create contentment. With regard to this phenomenon - it is very disturbing that youth in our society take pleasure from evil and harassment and intimidation. It has nothing to do with the clown costume. The youth misuse the image of the clown and harm the character and ability of the real clown to realize his destiny. Let them come to be clowns where the clown brings light. Let them meet people in distress and try to help.
*translated from Hebrew and edited for length

Dream Doctor Gabriel Cohen wrote on Facebook*:
It is not easy to deal with this appalling phenomenon of frightening clowns. They destroy the name of one of the most ancient and complex art forms of circus theater and street theater.
The goal of the clown is to soften and calm and make fun out of a real and not simple place. Sometimes it causes fear but not horror because it is sometimes scary to see ourselves in the mirror.
For about 12 years I have been working as a medical clown in hospitals and entering the most difficult and frightening situations, trying to soften and make the situation bearable.
The clown is actually a child with the eyes of an adult. He does not come to frighten or harm anyone in front of him. I always explain that I am a clown and a teacher who learns all my life how to stay stupid (innocent).
Share the news ... We are here to entertain and make it easier. Not to scare.
*translated from Hebrew and edited for length

Doctor Amnon Raviv wrote on Facebook*:
Unfortunately there are teenagers who are looking for excitement, to scare people wearing a clown costume. A clown is a character who represents joy and love all over the world. This is an archetypal figure in all societies, which brings joy and reduces anxiety, especially in hospitals. The boys frighten and create panic and at the same time harm the beloved clown. I welcome every day that I have gone into this amazing work. Every day I bring joy and laughter to people who are dealing with a very difficult crisis in their lives. Dozens and perhaps hundreds of patients and their family members are comforted by the humor and fantasy that I bring as a medical clown to the department. The body and soul are connected and laughter strengthens and enables better coping with the disease. In Israel there are dozens of medical clowns in the hospitals who bring patients and their families happiness and laughter and happy moments in which they forget suffering from the disease. These boys also hurt people for whom clowning is their job and I recommend that they expose themselves to the work of medical clowns in the hospitals in order to learn that their joy should not be built on the harm and fear of others, but rather by giving to others. I invite these young people to undergo training as medical clowns, to join me and the clowns and to cheer people who need it.
*translated from Hebrew and edited for length

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