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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.
3. Rabban Gamliel used to say... Find yourself a Rav - Pirkei Avos 1:16
The Twelve Step program encourages addicts to work with "sponsors," other addicts in more advanced stages of recovery who are also participating in the group. They provide guidance from the perspective of someone who has been in the same position. The program took a clear position that "addicts helping addicts" is a fundamental element in effective recovery.
The Nachas Ruach approach accepts this position but also recommends that addicts in recovery also try to develop a meaningful relationship with a rabbi who has some training in how to counsel in this area. Over the years I have worked with many rabbis who have provided important input. One of the rationales for doing this is to help the addict not be confined to working only with addicts, which, despite its importance, can also be limiting, especially in the long term.
This recommendation is based on the assumption that ideally every Jew needs to be working on self-improvement and doing teshuvah throughout his life. This was mentioned in the Iggeres HaRamban. The Nachas Ruach approach believes that understanding addiction as a disease is similar to understanding the evil inclination, as taught by the Torah and Chazal. Such traits as selfishness, stubbornness, rebellion against authority, and not considering future consequences are often aspects of the addictive personality.[1] Therefore, trained rabbis with the "right style" have the potential to relate to the addict from the perspective of the Torah's wisdom regarding man's basic nature, including the ongoing conflict between the good and evil inclinations. In Chassidut, this struggle is viewed in a deeper way as being related to the conflict between the "Divine soul" and the "animal soul."[2]
A positive "working relationship" with a rabbi is also a means to potentially help the addict in recovery integrate more into the "mainstream" Jewish community. This is necessary because the Twelve Step movement often becomes the primary and sometimes only social framework for the addict. Again, while accepting that recovery involves a long-term commitment to continue to participate in the program, the Nachas Ruach approach sees the possibility and value of the addict having a social identity that isn't only based on his addiction, which at some point can be overly restrictive or narrowing for him. Beyond that, the Twelve Step groups do not usually provide a Jewish social context for the Jewish addict. One technical problem of the Twelve Steps is that the meetings often take place in a social hall in a church setting. Connecting with a rabbi and a community can help the Jewish addict feel less rejected, stigmatized, and isolated from the larger Jewish community and experience recovery in a setting that acknowledges that Jews can also have problems with addiction. The Chai program also avoids some of the halachic problems that are part of Twelve Step meetings. The groups do not include males and females together, and therefore avoid the problems of maintaining modesty that sometimes arise in regular groups. Therefore, the traditional "group hug" would be possible in the separate male and female groups. The "serenity prayer," which is often said out loud at the end of meetings, in the Jewish context is addressed to Hashem, rather than to "the Lord," as in the non-Jewish source of this prayer.
[1] Rabbi Naphtali Wiesner, In His Own Image (New York: Mesorah Publications, 1992), pp. 90, 101.
[2] Lessons in Tanya, ch. 9, p. 139.