Clinical Applications of Lessons from the Jewish Studies Classroom: Teaching, Training, Treatment

Lessons learned from years of classroom and administrative encounters at the University level, particularly around the personal and communal experience of despair and the return to hope, have stimulated my clinical initiatves in doing therapy with individuals and families facing difficult circumstsances. In this paper, I present examples of the innovative programs and practices that have been developed in my courses in Jewish Studies and related disciplines to address memory, resilience, intergenerational legacies, and the problem of evil and the very essence of human nature. Using case studies to illustrate a therapeutic research-informed approach based upon pedagogical innovations and scholarship focused on analyzing biographical and historical narratives of trauma, we are invited to recognize the legacy of coping and adaptation imparted in the telling, alongside the deprivation and distress. A deliberate focus on stories of survival, such as the ones that characterize the Jewish historical experience, has been shown to help individuals who are unable to move beyond their current relational stance at home, in the workplace, and in the therapy room. The authentic spontaneous dialogue between therapist and patient, as with the classroom conversation between teacher and student, can provide the courage to confront the challenges of living a life limited by resentment, fear, and betrayal. The research-informed intervention of marshaling and mobilizing trauma testimony described in this paper is the culmination of years of clinical work and theoretical study on behalf of identifying useful strategies for pointing to the adaptive and regenerative capabilities of all human beings.