Course Catalog 2014-15 (5775) - updated

For the 5775 (Fall 2014 - Spring 2015) Academic year, we will be offering courses in the 2nd and 4th years of Torat Hanefesh. If you would like to take a course from the 1st or 3rd years, please purchase an online course on our moodle site.

Second Year Courses

201 Faith and Confidence

This is the 2nd foundational course taught at Torat Hanefesh (the first three being Rectifying the Ego). It is based on an article by the same name in Harav Ginsburgh’s volume, Lev Lada’at and provides an in-depth review and discussion of faith in God and self-confidence, what each is and what role each plays in our Avodat Hashem; whether they contradict or complement one another; and, how function to create mental and psychological health.
Just as selflessness and lowliness function together to rectify the ego, faith and confidence function together in bringing us to fulfill our mission in life. This is a year-long course.

2 semesters / R. Moshe Genuth

202 The Jewish Experience

The modern world is constantly inundating us with new experiences. Experiences can be external and superficial, leaving us unsatisfied. In this course, we will explore how to employ the power of experience in psychological health in the proper Jewish manner based on the central elements of Jewish life such as Shabbat, prayer, singing, etc.

1 semester / R. Avraham Aryeh Trugman

203 Mystery of Marriage

Marital harmony is one of the cornerstones of a full Jewish life. The Torah’s first commandment, to be fruitful and multiply, demands of us the development of our most important human relationship—that with our spouse. In this course, we will look at how the rectification of the ego applies in marriage and at the various motivations for love and commitment between couples.

1 semester / Mrs. Esther Kitov

204 Foundations of Counseling

Counseling is a challenge in itself that goes well beyond what can be taught theoretically. Rabbi Ehrenberg, an established counselor and educator will take us through the counseling process in practice, looking at actual cases and exploring their development and resolution.

1 semester / R. Ephraim Ehrenberg

205 The 12 Senses

We normally speak of 5 physical senses, but from Torah sources we learn that there are actually 12 basic senses. Chassidut argues that without knowing what sense is strongest in an individual it is next to impossible to truly help them. In this course, we will learn about this larger set of senses and how they interact with one another.

1 semester / Mrs. Rachel Gordon

Fourth Year Courses

401-2 Advanced Readings in Jewish Psychology

Jewish psychology requires the counsellor to be continuously engaged in self-study of Torah texts. In this advanced course for graduate students, we will cover 2-3 seminal texts in Jewish Psychology, with an emphasis on developing self-learning skills.

2 semesters / R. Moshe Genuth and R. Ephraim Ehrenberg

403 Wondrous Female Counselors

In this course we will look at the psychotherapeutic dimensions of stories told about wondrous Jewish women throughout history, beginning with the Tanach and stretching to modern times, their methods, teachings, and insights into the psyche.

1 semester / R. Nir Menussi

404 Healing with the Hebrew Letters

Language is the energetic currency of the psyche. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has many dimensions to it, the three primary ones being light (energy), life-force, and power. This course will cover in-depth topics related to Jewish psychology based on the Hebrew Letters

1 semester / R. Avraham Aryeh Trugman