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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 5
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
Unfortunately, many Jews, whether baalei teshuvah (BT) or frum from birth (FFB), don't adequately realize that pleasure and joy are meant to be integral elements of serving Hashem. For BTs, this realization can help them have more motivation to return to traditional Judaism. HaRav Noach Weinberg, z"l, rosh yeshivah of AishHaTorah, used to ask new students, "What is the purpose of life?" He would then go on to explain that Hashem created the world for only one purpose: To give His children as much pleasure as possible. Rav Noach would teach a class called "The Five Levels of Pleasure," with the highest pleasure being the love of God.[1]
For those who are FFB, the legitimacy of joy and pleasure in Judaism can help them find deeper meaning in what they have already been observing, which is an important need for many in the contemporary situation. For those who grew up religious, it's possible to experience doing mitzvos in a routine, habitual manner, which has both advantages and disadvantages. Rav Dessler stresses that every Jew should go beyond the "free will point" that he acquired through his childhood education.[2] For many, having more of the experience of having a personal relationship with Hashem through doing mitzvos can provide a sense of fulfillment that otherwise might be lacking.
In summary, the Nachas Ruach model as a Torah-based approach emphasizes, within the Chai program, the legitimacy of joy in a way that goes beyond the classical Twelve Step program. Rabbi Dr. Avraham Twerski confirmed that "the Twelve Step program doesn't provide a framework and the tools for having joy in an active way like Judaism does."[3] For addicts in recovery, it is my clinical experience that it can make it easier for them to stay clean by validating their need to experience pleasure, or oneg, in a healthy way. This whole issue is very practical and not just theoretical, for addicts are often initially trying, almost desperately, to "pursue happiness"[4] as understood in the modern Western culture, but tragically end up experiencing the pain that is a consequence of the disease of addiction.
This paradox can be seen in Hebrew where the word "to delight" is oneg (עונג) and the word for "plague" is nega (נגע), which is based on the same root as oneg but with the letters in a different order. In such instances, the Rabbis teach that there is a relationship between the two concepts. [5] Therefore, one goal of the recovery process is to help the addict reverse the process and move from "nega" to "oneg."
The Biblical book Song of Songs uses the metaphor of a man and woman feeling passionate love and joy, addressing the natural love that the neshamah has for Hashem. One of the first verses in chapter 1 is כי טובים דודך מיין, "For your love is better than wine" (1:2). On this verse, Rashi comments that personally experiencing a relationship with Hashem is better than any pleasure or joy.
[1] Hamodia, March 5, 2009, Special Supplement, p. 15.
[2] Rabbi E. E. Dessler, Strive for Truth - Discourse on Free Will (Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1988), p. 55.
[3] Heard from Dr. Twerski in a personal discussion in January 2008.
[4] Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, MD, Self-Improvement: I'm Jewish (New York: Shaar Press, 1998), p. 81.
[5] Rav Naftali Zvi Fish (z"l), Torot Beit Dinov (Jerusalem: Mossad HaRav Kook), p. 73.