Jewish Stories in Mental Health Counseling

Many mental health counselors incorporate storytelling as an integral component of their treatment programs. The popularity of such storytelling is apparent from the wide spectrum of therapeutic approaches including this modality. Judaism similarly has a rich storytelling tradition. Unfortunately, the counseling literature offers insufficient attention to incorporation of Jewish stories into treatment. The current article discusses the rationale behind therapeutic storytelling, surveys the limited extant literature surrounding use of Jewish stories in this context, and provides specific suggestions for including such stories in clinical interventions. The discussion is especially directed at practitioners of cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is among the fastest-growing approaches to mental health treatment.