My first encounter with the word of psychotherapy began at age 22, as a patient. During that time, following difficult personal and family-related incidents, I experienced a personal breakdown and sought help. During this therapy, I met a woman who was there for me in ways that I had not known could exist until then. She contained me and supported me, gave me hope, reflected back what was happening in my internal world, and succeeded in making order out of the internal chaos I was experiencing. During this therapy, I experienced a significant improvement in my emotional state, and with her encouragement I decided that I, too, wanted to work as a psychologist and with the intention of providing the gift I received from her to others who might be suffering.
Twenty years have passed since then, during which I have been working and developing myself as a clinical psychologist. During my professional path as a psychologist, I have worked in a number of clinical, organizational and classifying capacities. While working in different frameworks, I learned a great deal; I was exposed to a wide range of difficulties that individuals may cope with, as well as a wide range of effective therapeutic methods. Throughout these years, my view of the therapeutic project was based mainly on dynamic psychological approaches, but I was also always open to learning about new and different kinds of therapeutic perspectives.
My first encounter with the word of psychotherapy began at age 22, as a patient. During that time, following difficult personal and family-related incidents, I experienced a personal breakdown and sought help. During this therapy, I met a woman who was there for me in ways that I had not known could exist until then. She contained me and supported me, gave me hope, reflected back what was happening in my internal world, and succeeded in making order out of the internal chaos I was experiencing. During this therapy, I experienced a significant improvement in my emotional state, and with her encouragement I decided that I, too, wanted to work as a psychologist and with the intention of providing the gift I received from her to others who might be suffering.
Twenty years have passed since then, during which I have been working and developing myself as a clinical psychologist. During my professional path as a psychologist, I have worked in a number of clinical, organizational and classifying capacities. While working in different frameworks, I learned a great deal; I was exposed to a wide range of difficulties that individuals may cope with, as well as a wide range of effective therapeutic methods. Throughout these years, my view of the therapeutic project was based mainly on dynamic psychological approaches, but I was also always open to learning about new and different kinds of therapeutic perspectives.
In 2012, after years of suffering unexplainable physical pain, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease called ankylosing spondylitis. In 2014, I left the military and embarked on a journey whose aim was finding a cure for my pain, which was in a serious state of intensification. I decided that I was not interested in healing myself using conventional drugs. I had a deep and unexplained belief that I could cope, and possibly heal my body with alternative methods. At one point, following a range of different lifestyles I had tried in an attempt to heal, I learned about a group of individuals in the United States who had been diagnosed with the same disease that I was suffering from, and had been cured. I contacted them, and this was the moment in which my connection with the spiritual world began.
My “gate” into the spiritual world was through a book entitled “A New Earth”, written by the spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle. With this book, I understood that there was another dimension that I had not previously known, one that is not ordinarily studied in official academic psychology. The book whet my appetite for more knowledge of this type, and I began to read literature from a variety of traditions written by countless teachers, from different periods in human history, from different places in the world. I was exposed to teachings from the worlds of Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity and Sufism, Taoism, and Zen, and the doctrines of modern teachers (such as Alan Watts, Ram Dass, Adyashanti, Michael Singer, David Hawkins, Joel Goldsmith, Krishnamurti and others). I developed a special interest in Avaita Verdanta, which I researched through the teachings of teachers such as Ramhana, Maharshi, Papaji, Nisargadatta Maharaj, and Atmananda Krishna Menon.
The interesting thing I discovered through my studies was that all the great religions, traditions and spiritual teachings throughout time – each one in its unique way – point to the same “place” – a place that exists and is found beyond the world of matter and human logic, a transcendental dimension in which answers to challenges and complex questions with which human beings are faced can be found. On a human experiential level, this “place” is revealed as joy, calm, and fulfillment, independent of any objective external source.
At some point, I felt that acquiring this knowledge from books had its limitations, and I had the desire to meet a mentor who could provide answers to questions whose answers remained elusive. Two teachers appeared in my life: Rupert Spira and Francis Lucille. Both taught non-duality; each in his own way. Actually, Francis had been Rupert’s teacher, and he received his knowledge from a teacher by the name of Jean Klein, who spent a great deal of time in India, where he learned Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Tantric Shivaism from Indian teachers.
During the following years, I found myself traveling to Europe and the U.S. every few months to take part in workshops. My experiences in these workshops were deep and empowering, and I received the knowledge and answers that that I was seeking from them. What characterized my encounters, was the way in which they taught – through simplicity, patience, sensitivity, in addition to openness and honesty vis-a-vis their own experiences – an uncompromising, friendly discourse, devoid of hierarchy, precise and full of humor. They imbued a feeling of freedom, and demanded nothing of me in return (other than their fee); they did not preach, nor did they tell anyone how they should live their life. They only helped each person who arrived, with their difficulties, psychological suffering, confusion, questions and eagerness to discover their true nature and receive the most cherished gift that one can receive in a responsible and honorable way. This gift is a clear and logical map that points to the possibility that one can stand firm in a place of constant joy and serenity, devoid of any objective external reason.
Today I live and work in Israel, where I am also raising my daughter, Hodaya. I enjoy my life and my work, and I am enjoying good health. During the past few years, in addition to my private practice, I have begun working together with those who are interested in weekly group sessions, workshops and retreats that take place routinely throughout the year.