Home - NEFESH: The International Network of Orthodox Mental Health Professionals
Try Our New Design
We've been working hard to make a design that will be easier and more pleasant for you to use.
We would love to know what you think.
You can come back to our current design at any time.
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph tried to determine if a disembodied voice that was heard could be trusted as valid testimony. One of the concerns is this voice may have come from a demon instead of a human, and so a process to discern between a true human or a demon is necessary. The Gemara asserts that a demon’s shadow is different than a human’s shadow. While both may cast a shadow, a human’s shadow is capable of having a shadow on t …
Curiosity is a powerful relationship tool. We think we know someone else, we think we understand their motives, and we would like to believe we are right and know better. Yet, if we maintain a more curious attitude, especially when we feel frustrated or angry instead of becoming judgmental and indignant, we can turn difficult moments into learning and growth.
The Gemara on Amud Aleph relates a story involving the great sages Rav and Shmuel, and h …
What emotions and thoughts show on our faces?
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph quoted a verse in Yeshaiyahu (3:9) to prove the importance of witnesses seeing an intact face to identify a dead victim.
הַכָּרַת פְּנֵיהֶם עָנְתָה בָּם
Their sinful behavior was evident on their faces.
Jewish mystical thought and contemporary psychological thought supports the idea that our faces show much about the inner workings of our psyc …
As we mentioned on the last daf, our Gemaras have been discussing various self destructive impulses. On the last daf we examined self-destructiveness that hurts others simultaneously. On today’s daf we still discuss self-destructive urges that are directed at self instead of others.
According to researchers Tiffany B. Brown and Thomas Kimball, there a number of misconceptions about self-harm behaviors as well as functions that should be und …
The next two dappim of the Gemara will discuss various situations of self-injury and self-destruction. The Gemara references Shimshon’s ”Kamikaze” act upon the Philistines. At the end of his life, deprived of his miraculous strength, he was tied up and mocked in a public stadium. He prayed that God grant him one last strength, so that he “May die with the Philistines.” Thus, he was able …
Our Gemara on Amud Aleph and Beis discusses various halakhic ramifications of mother in law to daughter in law hatred. What does psycholgy and contemporary social research say about trends and comments of mothers in law?
Researchers Christine E. Rittenou and Jody Koenig Kellas surveyed prior research and itemized and described various forms of hurtful content within Mother-in-Law (MIL) communication:
(Rittenour, Christine E. and Koenig Kell …
