It's early on a random Tuesday morning.  The sun has just begun its daily routine of shattering the darkness of night.  And I've chosen to rise early to write.  Soon I will be on my way to shul and the day will begin.  I cherish the silent stillness that envelopes me as I sip my piping hot coffee and reminisce about the themes and patterns of many of the people I have the privilege of "treating" as a therapist.    It's not about depression, addiction, shalom bayis, medication, internet, sexuality, OCD, ADD, ADHD, ODD, SSA etc?€¦ It's almost never about what it seems.  When I have the opportunity to develop a relationship with someone in pain I am struck by how the "presenting problem" is inevitably not the real issue.  Brokenness and emptiness, a lack of almost any awareness of an inner life.  The immediate causes of people's pain might look like depression or anxiety, it might need to be treated with psychotropic medications, and it might need to be focused on in therapy, but it's just a means to an end.  The reality is that human suffering is a door that leads into what could be the most meaningful trip a person ever takes.  A journey inside.  The destination? You, the most precious and valuable thing in the world.

So much of our society is caught up with the behavioral and material aspects of our religion.  So little attention is given to our inner lives.  So many of us grow up learning about what we have to do, when we have to do it and with whom we are allowed to do it with, yet few of us actually know how to implement the richness of Torah into our lives.  How many of our children know how to balance the challenge of all that technology offers with wholesome Yiddishkeit?  How many of us feel fulfilled with our daily lives and feel we are living meaningfully, to our fullest potential?  I have no doubt that there are many who can answer "yes" to my questions.  But how many of us actually are in touch with our neshomos?  How many people know their tachlis in life?  Psychotherapy is not perfect for everyone.  But those who experience pain in life can certainly use therapy as a vehicle to travel inside.  As I watch the sun flex its muscles and radiate its powerful rays I can only think about the beauty and the potential of the people I work with.  Beauty that is all too often hidden behind a veneer of pain and the darkness of night.  May Hashem guide all of us in freeing ourselves from those things that hold us back from living the life we want and the life we can have.

Yitzi Horowitz, LCSW maintains a private practice in Brooklyn, NY and works with a variety of people with a plethora of struggles.  He can be reached by calling 347-809-0991.