Michal Schonbrun Is a Native Californian, Who Has Lived in (Jerusalem) Israel Since 1978

Michal Schonbrun is a native Californian, who has lived inIsrael since 1978. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she majored in history and Jewish Studies. She studied education at the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem and public health at the Hadassah and HebrewUniversitySchool of Public Health and Community Medicine (1983-4). She received her Masters of Public Health (MPH) from CaliforniaStateUniversity, Northridge in 1987. Michal received her certification as a health education specialist from the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (NCHEC-CHESUSA) in 1989.

Michal first learned about the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) in 1985 from her friend and colleague-to-be, Toni Weschler (author of the best-selling book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, 1995, 2006). Both trained and received certification to teach FAM from the Los Angeles Regional Family Planning Council( which merged in 1997 with another organization to become the California Family Health Council, Inc).

Based in Jerusalem for the last twenty five years, Michal has developed and implemented dozens of women’s health education programs, including FAM.During this time, she has had the privilege of working with hundreds of health professionals. Her outreach efforts in the area of breast health education impacted the lives of thousands of women. In the area of fertility education, she has enabled a few thousand women and couples to consciously achieve and/or prevent pregnancy- naturally and safely.

Michal was a founding member of the following health organizationsin Israel:

-The Jerusalem Interdisciplinary Forum on Female Sexuality (2003)

-The Israeli Breast Cancer Coalition ( 1996)

-The Israeli Association for the Advancement of Women’s Health (1994)

-The Israel Association of Health Education and Promotion (1991)

-Task Force on Women’s Health, Israel Women’s Network (1984)

She worked for many years with numerous organizations committed to advancing the reproductive health and breast health status of Israeliwomen, both Jewish and Arab; Palestinian women, and immigrant women.

Today, Michal teaches, trains and lectures to both professionaland lay groups about women’s health empowerment.In her educational workshops, she promotes holistic body-mind health educationand self-care. The ultimate goal of this approach is “body literacy,” which is a cruciallife skill for every woman. “Body literacy” means understanding how our bodies and menstrual cycles work. It means appreciating the innate intelligence which our bodies communicate. Once we know and trust our bodies, we are able to improve our reproductive health and enhance our sexual relationships and self-image, while gaining the confidence and peace of mind to make responsible choices and decisions about our health and quality of life.

Michal’s articles and publications in English