Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT
Can people recover from trauma? Do we have the power to overcome what is one of the most powerful illnesses that humanity has faced in over 100 years?
I believe we can if we learn from those who have suffered from even greater pain and overcame some of the most dire circumstances in history.
Based upon the letter that I read several years ago where the Rebbe spoke about the importance of promoting the work of Dr. Viktor Frankl, I began an organization called Torahpsychology.org to train thousands of individuals to help countless others deal with their pain and suffering.
Little did I know that on my last program called the Viktor Frankl Mind/Body & Soul Trauma and Pain Life Coaching Program a student of mine actually recovered from one of the most difficult injuries imaginable when 10 years ago she broke her neck in a diving accident.
The story of my student reminded me of an actual student that Viktor Frankl had who broke his neck in the 1970s due to a diving injury where he fractured his C-1 vertebrae which is also known as the “Hangman’s” fracture.
Dr. Jerri Long at the age of 17 became a quadriplegic and he remained that way until his death in 2004. However, his body was paralyzed but not his spirit. Eventually he went to college and graduated, earned a PhD and became a psychologist. He is best known for his saying “I broke my neck it did not break me”.
When Jerry Long was sitting in a hospital bed not knowing whether he’d ever move again he decided not to give up. Instead he said that he felt as Viktor Frankl did while in Auschwitz when he told himself, “When you cannot change your situation you can still change yourself.”
Jerry Long did not give up. Rather, lying in his hospital bed he decided that he would become a therapist who would help numerous individuals overcome their disability or their tragic accident.
Viktor Frankl referred to this phenomenon as “the defiant power of the human spirit.” After reading Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Jerry Long became a good friend and then a colleague of Viktor Frankl, and decided that, “in spite of his situation” he would fight to find meaning as opposed to what others would find a meaningless existence.
So too was a story of one of my students on our trauma healing coaching program. She told me that 10 years ago when she broke her neck, as she lay in bed, instead of thinking about herself, she thought about how her children would need her in the future to be strong and persevere – despite her pain or possible paralysis. This is what she said kept her fighting to stay alive and to eventually recover from over a year of recuperation and stress from the damage that was done during her accident.
The student also shared with me that on our program she had learned very powerful skills that would help her help herself and to help others with trauma. For example, coaches learn how to help individuals identify how they hold on to trauma, stress and pain, find their inner child, reorganize and desensitize their traumatic beliefs through EMDR and EFT tapping, relax through biofeedback and breathing exercises, and increase their sense of well being through increasing their emunah based.
The course teaches individuals how to utilize the power of Somatic Experiencing (Peter Levine), the Sarno Method, EMDR/EFT Tapping, healing based on Torah Sources, and Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy or the therapy of meaning.
During the program, students get to see how I have incorporated all three levels of mind, body and soul and how they all are helpful in helping people overcome trauma. In the course, participants get to see firsthand how skills taught in somatic therapy and EMDR can be used to help ourselves and then to heal others.
One of the exciting aspects of the program is that participants get to practice the skills they are learning during the class when they get to break off in breakout rooms and coach each other. By doing so they get to see firsthand how these therapies actually work. They then return back to the classroom and discuss how they feel about working with trauma and their role in coaching others.
The most powerful part of the program however is its focus on the works of Viktor Frankl and Chasidus. The “soul” part of the program focuses on specific teachings of Chabad Chasidus and Torah sources which teach a person how to focus on the emunah and to overcome any emotional challenges. The emphasis is placed on the daily Reading of Duties of the Heart and the chapter called The Gate of Trust. This book was a central focus of what the Rebbe would suggest individuals focus on especially if they suffer from anxiety.
No specific college degree or background is needed to join the program. The most successful participants are those who enjoy working with people, have emotional intuition and would now like to learn the skills needed to become a professional life coach or to integrate this work and in their professional lives as teachers, rabbis/rebetzines and shluchim.
Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch, LMFT, is a noted psychotherapist who is the director of TorahPsychology.org School of Coaching and Counseling. To register for the upcoming Viktor Frankl Mind/Body & Soul Trauma and Pain Life Coaching Program starting Nov. 2, visit www.torahpsychology.org or call 646-428-4723.
Today many mental health practitioners are steering our children, young adults and even adults to adapt an anti Torah, anti Chabad approach. They instill the idea that a person has to be self centered and “protect themselves ” against their “toxic” parents. They teach “victim” mentality. And we see a huge increase in the numbers of divorce. We need to wake up – the generations going forward are actually going backwards, and away from true Torah values when they get psychobabble therapy. Parents be extra careful when choosing a mental health counselor for yourself and for your child. Young adults… Read more »