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The 'Nachas Ruach' Treatment Model
Excerpts from "Nachas Ruach: Torah-Based Psychotherapy and Tools for Growth and Healing"
Preface:
A Way Out of Addiction for Orthodox Jews?
From Internet addiction to marital and family problems, from "teens at risk" to the psychological challenges facing those who are frum from birth and baalei teshuvah, today's changing world can be a confusing one. The religious Jewish community is also not immune to many sensitive contemporary issues, which can no longer be ignored. Yet sadly, some people who need psychological advice refrain from seeking it, believing that contemporary psychology and psychiatry are antagonistic to Yiddishkeit.
This important work by well-known therapist Dr. Naftali Fish offers a solid conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between Torah and psychology - including the Twelve Step program - showing clearly where they are compatible and where they are not. Dr. Fish is uniquely qualified to bridge this gap, as an Orthodox Jew grounded in Torah Judaism and the wisdom of our sages, and as a licensed clinical psychologist living in Jerusalem, with over twenty-five years' experience working with a variety of clinical issues, including the treatment of addictions and healing the inner wounded child. Here he presents the Nachas Ruach Treatment Model (NRTM), an innovative, effective approach that integrates Torah values and spirituality within the context of professional psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, as illustrated by intriguing case studies.
This book is a must-read for all professionals in the field of mental health, as well as for rabbis, educators, students studying psychology, and educated lay readers. Blending theory and practice, this book also provides practical tools and exercises for personal growth that anyone can gain from in their daily lives.
Preface:
A Way Out of Addiction for Orthodox Jews?
From Internet addiction to marital and family problems, from "teens at risk" to the psychological challenges facing those who are frum from birth and baalei teshuvah, today's changing world can be a confusing one. The religious Jewish community is also not immune to many sensitive contemporary issues, which can no longer be ignored. Yet sadly, some people who need psychological advice refrain from seeking it, believing that contemporary psychology and psychiatry are antagonistic to Yiddishkeit.
This important work by well-known therapist Dr. Naftali Fish offers a solid conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between Torah and psychology - including the Twelve Step program - showing clearly where they are compatible and where they are not. Dr. Fish is uniquely qualified to bridge this gap, as an Orthodox Jew grounded in Torah Judaism and the wisdom of our sages, and as a licensed clinical psychologist living in Jerusalem, with over twenty-five years' experience working with a variety of clinical issues, including the treatment of addictions and healing the inner wounded child. Here he presents the Nachas Ruach Treatment Model (NRTM), an innovative, effective approach that integrates Torah values and spirituality within the context of professional psychotherapy and hypnotherapy, as illustrated by intriguing case studies.
This book is a must-read for all professionals in the field of mental health, as well as for rabbis, educators, students studying psychology, and educated lay readers. Blending theory and practice, this book also provides practical tools and exercises for personal growth that anyone can gain from in their daily lives.
Continuation of "The Second Step"
In the Nachas Ruach perspective, addiction is viewed as a disease and is understood to be a specific manifestation of the evil inclination (yetzer hara), which constitutes a powerful ongoing influence on human motivation and behavior. Not only was it true for the Jews in Egypt, but the Rabbis also stress that ultimately no person could overcome the evil inclination without Divine assistance.
In the Talmud (Maseches Sukkah 52b) we learn in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: "A man's evil inclination threatens every day to overpower him and seeks to kill him...and if not for the Holy One, Blessed is He, Who aids him, he would be unable to withstand it."
In relation to the second step, which attempts to "restore us to sanity" from the disease of addiction, the Torah also recognizes that Hashem is the source of all healing: כל המחלה אשר שמתי במצרים לא אשים עליך כי אני ה' רופאך, "All of the diseases that I have placed in Egypt, I will not place upon you, for I am Hashem, your Healer" (Exodus 15:26).
It is an unquestioned axiom of the Twelve Steps that the "inability to control our usage of drugs is a symptom of the disease of addiction. We are powerless not only over our drugs but over our addiction as well."[1]
The clear treatment goal that flows from this reality is that total long-term abstinence is the only option, and this must be accomplished slowly, "one day at a time." The program is aware of the psychological reality that it is particularly difficult to stay clean for the rest of one's life, especially for addicts who have been under the influence of their active disease, which seeks immediate gratification. A natural response would be to think: this goal is impossible, so why try? By teaching the concept of coping through saying to oneself "Just for today" and other tools, the addict is given a way of effectively coping that enhances his ability to stay clean and maintain long-term recovery.
Every day in our prayers we say: ברוך ה' יום יום יעמס לנו האל ישועתנו סלע, "Blessed is God every single day, He burdens us, and is the God of our salvation" (Psalms 68:20). A Jew learns from this verse that Hashem gives him the ability to overcome his struggles and serve Hashem on a daily basis.
Practically, in the process of recovery, a person has to first admit that he has a problem, which is the goal of the first step. The goal of the second step is realizing that one cannot deal with his addiction alone and needs to be open to receiving help and actively seek it out. While seeking help, ultimately involves turning to God, it initially begins with trying to get help from others in recovery. The Torah also understands the need for one to ask for help, when the Rabbis teach that "a prisoner cannot free himself from prison."[2]
[1] Narcotics Anonymous NA Blue Book, p. 20.
[2]אין חבוש מתיר עצמו מבית האסורים - Berachos 5b.