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What is the Briut Hanefesh List?
The Briut Hanefesh list was founded in 2015 to provide a free place for English speaking mental health professionals in Israel to -
Hold professional discussion,
make referrals,
let each other know about continuing education events.
The list is free to join and hosted by Google Groups.
We currently have over 300 members and now seek to further professionalize and expand.
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Requirement for joining Briut Hanefesh
Most of our current list members possess a masters level degree in mental health related fields.
As of April 2022 our new criteria for membership is that new members should possess a masters level degree or higher in a mental health related field (or bachelors social work degree from Israel). This does not apply to members already on the list.
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Posts are moderated
The list is moderated to ensure a professional quality experience that is useful for mental health professionals. We ask that all members adhere to our group guidelines. These can be found below on this page.
Our members come from all walks of Israeli life, and coincidentally most members are religious. Being religious is not required for membership.
The common denominator of all members is that all Briut Hanefesh members offer professional services to the Anglo community in Israel, & many members cater particularly to religious clientele, but not only.
If you are a mental health professional with a masters degree or higher, we invite you to join us to grow together and help each to assist the community as best as we can in our unique way.
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Group Guidelines for Posting
Our Moderators help to ensure that the dialogue is professional and faithful to legitimate ideas that the broader professional community ascribe to. They also look out to ensure posts are not purposely divisive or disrespectful.
List Moderators-
Judith Levin PsyD
Mumchit in clinical psychology, supervisor and staff psychologist at Kfar Shaul hospital, in practice with teens and adults in Kiryat Moshe and Ramat Bet Shemesh
Ovadia Trepp LCSW
Psychotherapist in Private Practice Jerusalem and Ramat Beit Shemesh.
We would like to encourage open professional dialogue about topics related to clinical work and mental health, in a manner that is highly professional and pleasant for the diverse types of members here. For your information, some people on this list are Dati, Charedi, Conservative, Reform, and Secular. This is not a Charedi list or Dati list in any exclusive sort of way. What unifies the diverse types of people here is that most of us offer services to the religious anglo community in Israel. We do not require being religious or any particular flavor of Judaism to be a list member; however, we insist that all members, regardless of their own affiliation, are respectful to religious people of ALL TYPES.
We disallow broad language on the list that seeks to villify/ridicule/belittle any particular sect of religious Jews. This is not the proper list for that. You may want to post an article about the e.g. sexual practices of certain orthodox subcultures, the quality of leadership of the Rabbinate, or other popular social issues. We do not want these posts here and will delete them at our discretion because they create division, and for our purposes this is not helpful.
It is often possible to discuss nearly the same issue on this list on an individual clinical level, as opposed to speaking about the issue in a broad manner belittling an entire sect of society.
Example of what we don't want to see-
"Why is it that Rosh Yeshivot cover up major issues like abuse?"
<This uses broad language that disrespectfully stereotypes a large group of people, unfairly.
Example of what is permitted/encouraged-
"How can I as a professional influence my local community yeshiva to allow me to give a talk about sexual abuse? Any suggestions?"
<This wording is specific, not about all people but about a particular case, is respectful, and fair.
This is also not a list for Torah & Psychology, with an emphasis of making sure all that is said on this list is verified by Chazal or what any Gadol said. This is a diverse professional list. Therefore, we do not want to see posts that claim how Judaism should be observed, or why some therapy concept is not okay due to your understanding of halacha etc. These are important discussions to have, but this isn't the place for that. There are large professional listserves dedicated solely to that purpose.
On the other hand, this list is totally the legitimate place to ask a specific clinical question that overlaps with Torah which you are dealing with professionally.
Example of what we don't want to see-
"I think it is halachikly forbidden for female therapists to meet male clients, and here is a link to the shiur of Rabbi so-and-so to prove it"
Example of what is permitted/encouraged-
"I am dealing with a male client who feels uncomfortable meeting me as I am a female therapist, he is worried this is an issue of yichud and said he is unsure if he should continue therapy or not. What would you do in this case as professionals?"
The simple underlying point is we do not want this list being used as a place where some types of Jews tell other types of Jews how to behave. This is not the place for that, and it alienates our members, which in turn harms our clients and the community. We need to work together to help one another be as good as we can professionally as mental health professionals. This is our role and unique mitzvah.
Thank you,
Founder, Rabbi Avi Tenenbaum MA, CASAP, EMT
Co-Founder, Danielle Salber, MSW, PT, Boxing Therapist