Between Rationality and Irrationality

Jewish Scriptural interpretation entails a potential therapeutic bridge between the rational-material and the irrational-mystic in the world of psychotherapy. PaRDeS as this system is known is derived from the following concepts. P denotes peshat the plain interpretation of the text which translates into a rational interpretation of life. R symbolizes remez hinting at a related religious concept which becomes a symbolic view of life. D stands for derash the homiletic way of interpreting a text or a narrative reading of life. And S represents sod or the mystery behind an idea which in psychological terms becomes a mystic understanding of life. Mordechai Rotenberg believes that it is by engaging readings in a dialogue with each other as in the Jewish hermeneutic tradition the psychology underlying one's existence may be more readily understood.While Rotenberg acknowledges that it is legitimate to focus on one cognitive-rational or one narrative-storytelling therapeutic method in the course of therapy he argues that a comprehensive theory of psychotherapy should include treatment possibilities for both rational and irrational manifestations of behavior thereby engulfing all aspects of human behavior. For Rotenberg a person's life becomes the text subject to being read and interpreted. If that person wishes to change his or her behavior via psychotherapy then a hermeneutic system must be employed to understand that person's life. However many systems interpret a person's life according to the particular theory espoused by the therapist. Rotenberg in contrast introduces a balanced theory bridging the rational and the irrational.Between Rationality and Irrationality emphasizes that it is more important for a therapist to learn his client's own language than to impose his own doctrinaire interpretation. This edition includes a new introduction by the author as well as an appendix explicating an original psychological interpretation of PaRDeS