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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 4
4. And the study of Torah is equivalent to them all - Maseches Shabbos 127
Beyond establishing a relationship with a rabbi and a community, the Nachas Ruach approach also asserts that addicts can benefit from the study of Torah. Chazal teach, "I created the evil inclination and I created the Torah as an antidote to it."[1] Working for many years as a clinical psychologist in the area of Torah-based prisoner rehabilitation in Israel, I observed the often powerful and transforming impact Torah had on this difficult population, who usually also had problems with addictions. Learning Torah gave this group a new "world view" and a clear framework in which to develop a new identity, lifestyle, and value system based on the foundation of "fear of Heaven" or yiras Shamayim. Torah study in this context means learning Torah in the general sense (studying the weeklyTorahreading, halachah, Midrash, Mishnah,Gemara, and also learning aspects of Torah, such as mussar (ethics), that is specifically relevant to the situation and the needs of the addict, e.g., anger management.
In addition to establishing a relationship with a rabbi, as was stressed in Concept 3, Torah is preferably studied with another person, a chavrusa. The root of this word is the same as the root of the word "friend." Behaviors that develop into addictions often started as a result of peer pressure to be "part of the group." In this context, learning Torah with a chavrusa is a constructive social experience that helps the addict develop positive friendships. This clearly is an important need, as is taught in Pirkei Avos(1:6): "Acquire for yourself a friend."
In a good relationship with any chavrusa, part of the interaction also involves informal chatting or "schmoozing." Thus, there is also the potential for the addict to begin to feel safe enough to share his inner world with a friend who is not an addict himself and to speak openly with him about his inner struggles as a way to reduce the power of theyetzer hara. This approach was advocated by Noam Elimelech.
[1] Talmud Bavli, Kiddushin 30b.