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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.
Torah Perspectives on the Twelve Steps
"Six Additional Torah Concepts to Supplement the 12 Steps"
Concept 6: Part 3/3
6. Do not return to Egypt... - Deuteronomy 17:16
One reason the Torah puts so much stress on not returning to Egypt is that existentially it is not possible to fully serve Hashem while still being a slave. For example, the Mishnah in Berachosteaches that a Canaanite slave, while being obligated to do certain mitzvos, was still exempt from reciting the Shema Yisraeldeclaration,[1] where the intent is for him to "accept the sovereignty of God."[2] The implication here is that only a free person can serve God. Therefore, every day immediately upon awakening a Jew recites the berachah "Blessed are You...for not making me a slave."
This point should be stressed in education and prevention programs, working with religious youth, where "value clarification" is an important component. It is important to give contemporary teenagers the opportunity to receive a perspective that will allow them to make proper choices. Going against the natural tendency to think that "it won't happen to me" teenagers need to hear that besides possibly being "fun," substance use clearly leads to emotional dependence and powerlessness.
Thus, the Nachas Ruach approach defines five stages in the process of the development and treatment of addictions utilizing the model of Egypt as a metaphor. They are:
- Going into Egypt
- Becoming enslaved in Egypt
- Leaving Egypt
- Being in the desert
- Entering the promised land
***
In summation, based on extensive clinical experience, I have asserted that the six additional concepts elaborated here effectively supplement the basic Twelve Step program from a Torah perspective. It has been stressed that the Nachas Ruach model clarifies why it is important to avoid an addictive lifestyle. The first step of the program rightfully acknowledges that being powerless to one's addiction is the fundamental issue of recovery. Being powerless means that the addict has less free will. Having free will is the foundation of Torah, which is possible because man is created in the Divine image. The Torah cannot accept being addicted as "okay," because ultimately, it takes us away from an important dimension of man's self-respect. The "spiritual awakening" that recovery demands really allows the addict to recover an important dimension of his basic human dignity. This requires them not only to know the program principles or Torah teachings, but to actually live and apply these guidelines in their lives - it is taught in Pirkei Avos 1:17 that "Not study, but practice is the main thing."
The irony and beauty of recovery is that when the addict finally "gets it," he will have actually been forced to grow in a psycho-social-spiritual way, sometimes even more than the average "normal" person who doesn't have to deal with such life-or-death choices. The Torah understands the possibility of what is called yeridah l'tzorech aliyah, "descent for the sake of ascent." This process can be seen at work in the Torah. Before Yaakov Avinu went down to Egypt, he was promised by Hashem: אל תירא מרדה מצרימה כי לגוי גדול אשימך שם: אנכי ארד עמך מצרימה ואנכי אעלך גם עלה, "Have no fear of descending to Egypt, for I shall establish you as a great nation there. I shall descend with you to Egypt, and I shall also bring you up"(Genesis 46:3-4). On the words אעלך גם עלה: "And I shall also bring you up," the Sforno teaches, "I will raise you even higherthan you were before going down there."
This Torah-based perspective can give the addict, as well as anyone who is struggling with difficult issues, the hope that they can rebuild their lives and ultimately achieve more wisdom and maturity as a result of their previous problems.
[1] Talmud Bavli, Berachos 20a, mishnah.
[2] Ibid.,13a.