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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.
"Six Additional Torah Concepts to Supplement the 12 Steps"
1. "Beloved is man, who was created in the Divine image" (Pirkei Avos 3:18). The concept that each person is created in the Divine image is the foundation of a Torah-based psychological theory of man's nature, and this should in turn be the basis for developing positive self-esteem. This applies to everyone, and is even more important for addicts. Dr. Twerski stresses that "low self-esteem is a major source of addictions."[1] From this understanding, it is clear that an important goal in the treatment of addictions is to improve self-esteem. Concept one addresses this practical issue of recovery. Already in the first chapter of the Torah it is taught that man is created in the Divine image: ויברא אלוקים את האדם בצלמו בצלם אלוקים ברא אותו זכר ונקוה ברא אותם, "God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). The Torah recognizes that man is created with a dual nature, with a physical and a spiritual dimension and reality. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul"(Genesis 2:6). While understanding that there is a basic conflict between the body and the soul, we also understand that it is the latter that is man's true essence and eternal element.[2] We also learn in Pirkei Avos in the name of Rabbi Akiva that man should be aware that he was created in the Divine image. "Beloved is Man, for he was created in God's image; it is indicative of a greater love that it was made known to him that he was created in God's image" (3:18). The psychological implication at the core of the Nachas Ruach Treatment Model is that each individual has intrinsic value and unique potential, as one created in the Divine image regardless of his current achievements or problems. This basic truth is particularly important in contemporary society, where most people have "absorbed" the belief that self-esteem and self- worth are highly associated with one's actual achievements. Also, there is a tendency to define oneself in relation to limitations that he or she might have, as seen professionally when clients are labeled according to their diagnostic category. In contrast to over-identifying with one's problems, the Torah believes that "the soul in its essence always remains healthy and pure."[3]
[1]Let Us Make Man: Self-Esteem Through Jewishness (New York: CIS Publishers, 1987), p. 35.
[2] Rabbi Naphtali Wiesner, In His Image (New York: Mesorah Publications, 1992), p. 19.
[3] Ibid., p. 54.