PSYCHOLOGISTS [#17706]

I have heard a complaint about psychologists, that they feel haughty deep down towards their clients, meaning that they have a lot of gaavah, and they feel better about their own identity when they see that their clients have issues. What is the right perspective to have and the right way to go in?

Go [for help] to people who serve Hashem. [Editor’s Note: It is well-known that the Rav doesn’t approve of going to psychologists and therapists for help in all areas, as the non-Jewish methods cannot fully help and treat a Jew’s soul, and because the Jew’s spirituality is harmed in the process of using non-Torah methods. However, from other responses of the Rav, it is clear that when it comes to extremely difficult circumstances or life-and-death issues, or in cases where a person needs medication and the only way to know this is by going for professional help, certainly the Rav agrees that it must be dealt with professionally and in-person, because life-and-death or severe issues must be treated immediately. But once the person’s problems aren’t that extreme anymore and he is able to come back to the “middle road” more or less, he should not make use of psychologists of therapists, and he should treat his soul using the methods of balancing the 4 elements of the soul, as explained in the Rav’s sefer “Hakarah Atzmis” (Self-Recognition) and the 4 Elements series.]