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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.
Concept 2: Part 3
2. Taste and see that God is good. Happy is the man who trusts in Him - Psalms 34:9
The Torah's Position on the Pleasure Principle or the Pursuit of Happiness
In Parashas Vayishlach, Genesis 32:5, Yaakov sent messengers to Esav and commanded them to tell him, "I have sojourned with Lavan and stayed until now." On this phrase, Rashi comments that Yaakov Avinu was saying that he was able to maintain his loyalty to the 613 mitzvos of the Torah even while living in a foreign atmosphere that was so hostile to Torah observance. However, Rav Meir Shapiro of Lublin, z"l, teaches that Yaakov Avinu added regretfully, "While I remained firm in my observance of the 613 commandments, I failed to learn from Lavan to perform the commandments with the same dedication and passion as he pursued his evil ways."[1]
Judaism stresses not only self-control but also the value of serving Hashem joyfully (b'simchah), as part of normative halachic living: עבדו את ה' בשמחה באו לפניו ברננה, "Serve Hashem with gladness, come before Him with joyous song" (Psalms 100:2).
For example, delighting in or having oneg on the Shabbos is an intrinsic halachicaspect of Shabbos observance. In the standard Shabbos prayers, we pray every week, "They shall rejoice in Your Kingdom - those who observe the Sabbath and call it a delight (oneg). The people that sanctifies the Seventh - they will all be satisfied and delighted with Your goodness."[2]
It is also customary to read several verses from the prophet Isaiah before making Kiddush on Shabbos morning. These include: "If you restrain your foot, because of the Shabbos, [and refrain] from accomplishing your own needs on my holy day; if you proclaim the Shabbos a delight (oneg), the holy day of Hashem...then you will delight in Hashem and I shall mount you astride the heights of the world, and provide you the heritage of your forefather Jacob - for the mouth of Hashem has spoken" (Isaiah 58:13-14).
The phrase "I shall mount you astride the heights of the world," or, more literally, "I will cause you to ride on the high places of the land," implies that a Jew with his additional soul (neshamah yeseirah) will have greater awareness or a higher consciousness on Shabbos. From a secular perspective, the traditional observance of Shabbos can lead one to have a sense of being "high," but in a natural way.
Chazal teach that one of the goals of learning Torah and doing mitzvos is to allow a Jew to develop an intimate relationship with Hashem. The sense of feeling connected or close to Hashem is called deveikus. The Ramchal teaches that "God's purpose in creation was to bestow of His good to another." This means giving created beings the opportunity to attach themselves to Him to the greatest degree possible. The purpose of all that was created was therefore to bring into existence a creature who would derive pleasure from God's own good in a way that would be possible for it.[3]
The Ramchal also teaches that only deveikus, or union with God, constitutes true perfection.[4] We also learn from David HaMelech that communion with Hashem is ultimately the greatest joy, as we read in Psalms 73:28: ואני קרבת אלוקים לי טוב, "But as for me, God's nearness is my good," and in the verse in Psalms 27:4: אחת שאלתי מאת ה' אותו אבקש שפתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי לחזות בנועם ה' ולבקר בהיכלו, "One thing I asked of Hashem, that shall I seek: Would that I dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life, to behold the sweetness of Hashem and to contemplate in His sanctuary."
[1] Friedman, Wellsprings of Torah, p. 65.
[2]Artscroll Siddur: Siddur Imrei Ephraim, p. 461.
[3] Ramchal, Derech Hashem (Feldheim), p.51, 261.
[4] Ramchal, Mesillas Yesharim (Feldheim), p. 19.