Jason Aronson, Inc.
Pages: 172
•
Trim: 6½ x 9½
978-0-7657-0855-7 • Hardback • December 2011 • $108.00 • (£83.00)
978-0-7657-0891-5 • eBook • November 2011 • $102.50 • (£79.00)
Rabbi Steven J. Kaplan is Rabbi and Director of Chavurat Breslov in Pompano Beach, Florida.
Rabbinical Counseling
Dedication
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Concepts
Chapter 1: What is Rabbinic Counseling?
Chapter 2: Social Interest, Torah, and Hillel
Chapter 3: Personality Theory for Rabbinic Counseling
Chapter 4: Prayer and Emotional Healing
Chapter 5: Understanding Inferiority
Part II: Talking To God as Therapy
Chapter 6: Why Should We Talk To God?
Chapter 7: Where Should We Talk To God?
Chapter 8: How Should We Talk To God?
Chapter 9: What Do We Talk To God About?
Chapter 10: Potential Obstacles in Talking to God
Part III: Psychodynamic Understandings
Chapter 11: The Mind-Body Connection
Chapter 12: Depression: Its Meanings and Uses
Chapter 13: Suicide and Communication
Chapter 14: Guilt Feelings as an Exercise
Chapter 15: Anxiety and Phobias: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Chapter 16: Obsessions and Compulsions
Chapter 17: On Love and Marraige
Chapter 18: Elderly Concerns
Chapter 19: On the Death of a Loved One
Chapter 20: Grief, Bereavement, and Mourning
Chapter 21: Questioning Faith
Chapter 22: Insomnia
Chapter 23: Substance Abuse
Chapter 24: Understanding Schizophrenia
Part IV: Processes
Chapter 25: Goals in Rabbinic Counseling
Chapter 26: The First Meetings
Chapter 27: Feeling Better vs. Getting Better
Chapter 28: What is Transference?
Chapter 29: Dreams and Dream Interpretation
Chapter 30: Early Recollections
Chapter 31: The Lifestyle
Chapter 32: Birth Order Position
Chapter 33: The Placebo Effect in Rabbinic Counseling
Chapter 34: Hypnosis in Rabbinic Counseling
Chapter 35: To Whom Should the Rabbi Refer?
Part V: Life's Paths
Chapter 36: Faith
Chapter 37: Prayer
Chapter 38: Silence
Chapter 39: Joy
Chapter 40: Simplicity
Chapter 41: Peace of Mind
Chapter 42: Patience
Chapter 43: Anger
Chapter 44: Optimism and Hope
Chapter 45: Forgetting
Chapter 46: Self-Confidence
Chapter 47: The Challenge of Marraige
Chapter 48: The Jewish Home
Chapter 49: Work
Chapter 50: Midlife Is No Crisis
Chapter 51: Our Golden Years
Chapter 52: Coping With Illness
Chapter 53: For the Comfort of Mourners
Bibliography
Author Biography
This book is a compact course in Jewish spiritual counseling and psychology. It is filled with the wisdom Rabbi Kaplan gleaned through decades of experience that allows him to provide guidance on virtually all of the common issues that are brought to rabbis, as well as the unanticipated non-normative events that can be disheartening or destructive for families. This book represents an advancement in the existing body of literature in the field and should be a desk reference for every rabbi who truly wants to offer spiritual and emotional healing to those whose lives s/he touches.
— Dov Forman
Steven Kaplan has captured and integrated an abundance of rich treasures from psychology, Judaism, and from his own extensive clinical experience as a therapist to gift the reader with clarity and practical tools to serve as an effective guide for helping others strengthen their ability to connect with God while helping them navigate daily challenges. As a Rabbi with inpatient and outpatient medical and psychiatric training and experience, I enthusiastically welcome this body of work that addresses such critical issues in so practical a manner. I am thrilled to see such a comprehensive, realistic, honest, and clearly articulated guide available as an essential resource!
— Rabbi Miriam Maron R.N., lecturer and practitioner of ancient Hebraic healing modalities
The introduction offers a menu that seems plausible and useful.... Kaplan’s counseling methods are supplemented by a technique that may be characterized as 'inspirational.' He resorts to exhorting the counselee to let go of negative thoughts, not to live in the past, to embrace joy, and achieve happiness.
— PsycCRITIQUES
In writing this book, it is Steven J. Kaplan’s intention to help the Rabbi to “not only be halachically sound but psychologically accurate” in providing this guidance in a way that is “compatible with Jewish teachings.” It is meant for the traditional as well as non-traditional Rabbi, regardless of skill level. The book contains short, readable chapters that include case examples and that quickly get to the heart of what formal counseling textbooks might take pages to convey.... It serves as an enjoyable and helpful crash course for the Rabbi who may only receive one course (if that) on counseling during Rabbinical school. This book is recommended for synagogues and academic libraries serving rabbinical students.
— Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews