When Talk Therapy Isn’t Enough: A Holistic Jewish Approach

For decades, therapeutic work in Israel and abroad has followed a similar arc - sessions with a therapist where the patient talks through their problems, after which a prescribed dose of medication is handed over.

“Ask any doctor in the United States how many patients they have cured and the answer is always zero,” remarked Dr. Michael Aboulafia, 55, father of nine, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, and the founder of the Ab oulafia Institute for Jewish Psychotherapy. “My goal, and the goal of my work, is to give my patients the tools to actually repair themselves,” he added.

Aboulafia explained that the field of psychotherapy has failed patients, latching onto the teachings of figures such as Dr. Sigmund Freud, which “does not recognize that each individual has a neshama and a ruach, instead focusing only on the material.”

The method he developed, he says, is based on: “mixing the teachings of Kabbalah, Hasidut, and the inner teachings of the Torah at the deepest level, through breathing and body techniques, helping patients heal themselves - by themselves.”

Born in France, Aboulafia grew up in a traditional household, but “started my process of teshuva from the day I was born,” describing how he was always drawn to the teachings of the Torah and Hashem. While a teenager himself, he always found himself assisting with children and guiding them, instilling in him the love for helping others which is the guiding principle of his work.

At the age of 23, Aboulafia made Aliyah. He joined the Israeli Defense Forces and studied in the Machon Meir yeshiva in Jerusalem. He then married and began his professional career as a psychiatrist.

As the years passed, he noticed that many of the most-promoted therapeutic approaches not only didn’t work, but were actually harming patients. Drawing from his personal Torah study, particularly in the mystical inner teachings, he began working on developing his own method, testing out its various techniques on himself and seeing incredible results.

“Speaking all day to a therapist does not help,” he said. “The real work in healing comes from the body. The body knows better than anyone how to repair itself.”

He said that especially with children and teenagers, they have the innate ability to heal themselves better than adults.

“All the time, people come up to me in the streets telling me how I saved their lives, and now they are successful in their lives, married, with kids,” he says proudly about the impact of his work.

The success of his work became so widespread that countless psychiatrists and interested individuals came to him seeking guidance on how they can incorporate his methods into their work. As a result, Dr. Aboulafia set up the Aboulafia Institute for Jewish Psychotherapy, which offers multi-year or half-year intensive studies where students learn how to provide care with the inner workings of the Torah, including “how to understand a patient’s soul and teach it to repair itself.”

Since its founding in 2015, hundreds of doctors, educators, and parents have passed through his institute’s doors, creating a reality where Israelis all across the country can access his teachings. More than 150 students are enrolled in the current academic year.

Photo: Aboulafia Institute for Jewish Psychotherapy.

Dr. Aboulafia, whose Jerusalem clinic is fully booked weeks in advance, said “My goal is that no one needs to wait for care.” He added that alumni of his institute have gone on to treat thousands of additional patients themselves, including heads of many schools who have changed their curricula to better serve the well-being of their students.

Despite being centered on the teachings of the Torah, Aboulafia said that his patients and students include Israelis from all walks of life, both religious and secular. “Our work is in emuna, not Torah study,” he said. “Of course, avodat Hashem helps with the process - to understand our inner selves more and to know there is an end to the trauma or issue an individual has.”

With that said, he firmly believes that the Torah contains the answers, specifically for the current generation. “There are new, different souls in the current generation,” he remarked. “They want depth and purpose, not abstract and general teachings of the past.”

“They have had enough with the external, material explanations,” he added.

Today, Dr. Aboulafia’s packed schedule sees daily patients visits - including pro bono work he does for families less fortunate - a Q&A radio program on Moreshet every Sunday night where parents across the country call in asking pressing questions on their children’s well-being, and a weekly lecture at the Menachem Begin Center in Jerusalem open to the public where he discusses psychotherapy from a Jewish lens and teaches how to build keilim(vessels) for personal growth, alongside the weekly teaching he does for the two programs at his flagship institute.

“I love my work,” he said proudly. “I am in the field of saving souls.”