Reply To: Orthodox Jews and Psychology

Home Forums Controversial Topics Orthodox Jews and Psychology Reply To: Orthodox Jews and Psychology

#1121073
frumnotyeshivish
Participant

Here how I see it:

The reason we are created is to make the right choices and do the right behaviors. We have a soul which naturally yearns for the spiritual, and a body which is physical. We are required to use our brains in a way which connects us to our souls and not our bodies. There is a good and evil inclination which represent the soul and body in our choices. All of this seems to me to be mainstream classic jewish thought.

Psychologists, on the other hand, are trained to think only about physical attributes. Often, psychological problems (or undesirable behavior) are physiologically rooted. For such problems, a psychological/psychiatric approach is entirely appropriate.

When the root of an undesired behavior is spiritual in nature, a spiritual expert should be consulted (if any expert need be consulted at all). The above statement seems to me incontrovertible. This is not to say other experts have no input on the treatment of the problem- just that the primary authority as to treatment should be given to the experts on each respective topic.

The big question: is the source of a given undesirable behavior physical or spiritual? The answer isn’t simple. I’d say to consult with experts in both fields. I’d also say that a good rabbi would not be biased against the field of psychology, whereas psychologists are often biased against rabbis.