YU counseling programs adds a rabbinic skill

The Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology have announced a joint pilot program in pastoral counseling that will provide rabbinic leadership with new tools to meet the emotional needs of their future constituents.

The two-year program, which combines Ferkauf’s mental health expertise and resources with the experience and spiritual guidance of RIETS faculty, is the first of its kind, offering in-depth training in mental health counseling that is an increasingly important component of modern rabbinic responsibilities.

Students take 10 graduate-level courses designed especially to address the unique challenges faced by communal leaders, including two foundational pastoral psychology courses which are required within their first two years of semicha studies, and ultimately receive a certificate in mental health counseling as well as semicha. The coursework can also be applied to a master’s degree in mental health counseling with an emphasis in pastoral psychology at Ferkauf.

“The growing need for rabbis and religious educators to become more informed, sensitive, and adept in the application of mental health principles, along with the reality that congregants increasingly view counseling skills as a critical component of the rabbi’s job description, makes this program essential to the training of well-prepared Orthodox rabbis,” said Rabbi Menachem Penner, the Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS. “It has the potential to significantly change the American rabbinate.”

The program covers a wide range of topics, from couples and family counseling to crisis counseling, which includes dealing with substance abuse treatment and grief, loss and bereavement counseling. All classes are held on the Wilf Campus, making them easily accessible for RIETS students, whose main center of study is the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Beit Midrash; they’re also held on evenings or during summer sessions to accommodate students’ busy schedules.