Dr. Gershfeld-Litvin Avital
Fields of Research
School of Behavioral Sciences
Psychological issues related to breast cancer
Psychological issues related to disabilities and illness
Disenfranchised grief and bereavement processes, especially in the medical context (e.g., pregnancy loss, physical losses due to illness).
Short Bio
Dr. Gershfeld-Litvin is a faculty member at the School of Behavioral Sciences in The Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo. She holds a Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University for a dissertation on breast loss from a perspective of loss and grief (Breast loss following cancer: grief and meaning making process - a qualitative study). Dr. Gershfeld-Litvin teaches courses related to psychotherapy in Loss Grief and bereavement, such as Introduction to loss and mourning studies and prenatal loss and to Medical Psychology, such as Women's health, Key issues in medical psychology, and Case formulation in medical psychology.
Dr. Gershfeld-Litvin is a medical psychologist. Her clinical expertise is focused on treating patients with physical illnesses and their family members and dealing with loss and grief. She works as a psychologist at Tel Hashomer Hospital, and also at a private clinic.
Selected Publications
Gershfeld -Litvin, A. (2017) Breast loss following breast cancer: grief and meaning making process, Resling publishing (in Hebrew).
Ressler I, Gershfeld-Litvin A. Living with Parkinson’s disease: A qualitative study of spousal perspectives. Journal of Health Psychology. 2022;0(0). doi:10.1177/13591053221134740
Aharon K.B., Gershfeld-Litvin A., Amir O., Nabutovsky I. & Klempfner R. (2022) Improving cardiac rehabilitation patient adherence via personalized interventions. PLOS one, 17(8): e0273815. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273815
Gershfeld-Litvin, A., Halabi, S. & Bellizzi, K. M. (2022). Stigma related to breast cancer among women and men: The case of the Druze minority in Israel. Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053221115619
Gershfeld-Litvin, A. Hertz-Palmor, N., Shtilerman, A., Rapaport, S., Gothelf, D. & Weisman, H. (2022) The evolution of the psychosomatic child: psychological characteristics and psychiatric comorbidity. Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, 63(4), 324-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaclp.2021.10.008
Moshe, S. & Gershfeld-Litvin, A. (2022). Old and Depressed? What We Think About Ending Their Suffering—Attitudes Toward Euthanasia for Elderly Suffering from Physical Versus Mental Illness. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 85(4), 1026–1041 (first published online in 2020). https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222820961241
Toukhy, N. & Gershfeld-Litvin, A. (2021) Beyond cultural differences: The sociopolitical impact on supervision between Arab supervisees and Jewish supervisors in Israel, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 82, 247-255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2021.04.009
Gershfeld-Litvin, A. (2021). Women’s Experiences Following Mastectomy: Loss, Grief, and Meaning-Reconstruction. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 29(3), 187-204. doi:10.1177/1054137318799046. (first published online in 2018)
Gershfeld-Litvin, A. (2020). Multi-learning experience course for psychology undergraduates: Combining experiential learning and theory-based research learning about disabilities. Journal of Disability Studies, 6(1), 36-39.
Gershfeld-Litvin, A., & Jacoby, R. (2020). Immediate Breast Reconstruction: Does It Restore What Was Lost? A Qualitative Study. Illness, Crisis & Loss, 28(2), 141–157. (first published online in 2017) https://doi.org/10.1177/1054137317705876