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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.
"The Second Step"
"We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity." [1]
This can be seen as an intellectual acknowledgment of what Judaism calls "accepting the yoke of Divine sovereignty" (Kabbalas ol Malchus Shamayim), which the Rabbis understood to be the implication of the first of the Ten Commandments: "I, Hashem, shall be your God, Who brought you out of Egypt, from the house of slaves."[2]
I noted earlier that in contemporary society, the Twelve Step philosophy represents a paradigm shift. I once heard from Rav Chaim Lipschitz that in the "post-modern world" most of the major ideologies of the twentieth century have been discredited. The only "ism" that remains is narcissism - the ideology of "I... Self... Me." Therefore, it really is significant that the Twelve Step program is based on acknowledging "a power greater than ourselves." In practical terms, this means that the recovering addict learns that one's willpower is "necessary but not sufficient" to overcome an addiction and that there is a higher purpose or motivation in life besides seeking immediate gratification, which for many people growing up in contemporary society is really a new idea.
The Torah begins with the powerful statement acknowledging the Higher Power:בראשית ברא אלוקים את השמים ואת הארץ, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). In relation to this issue, the Rambam begins the Mishneh Torah with the dramatic teaching: "The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being Who brought into being all existence."[3]
Looking at addictions, the Torah understands that beyond physical servitude, there are also emotional and spiritual kinds of slavery, which lead us into narrow, constricted places of the soul: מן המצר קראתי יה, ענני במרחב יה, "From the straits did I call upon God; God answered me with expansiveness" (Psalm 118:5). The root of the word "straits" ((מצר is the same as the root of the word "Egypt" (מצרים). Addictions certainly fall into this category.
In relation to the belief that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity, it is clear that the Jewish people were not able to leave slavery without direct Divine assistance, as stressed in the Pesach Haggadah. Nonetheless, before receiving Divine assistance, they had to make some initial effort that demonstrated their willingness and worthiness to be redeemed. The Pesach sacrifice (the korban Pesach) was offered only after the Jewish slaves openly kept the sheep in their houses for four days before the actual sacrifice. This required great courage, since the Jews knew that the Egyptians, their masters, worshiped this animal and had the power to punish them for opposing what they believed in.
[1] Narcotics Anonymous NA Blue Book, p. 22.
[2] The Pentateuch: Trumath Zvi, p. 281.
[3] Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah 1:1.