Our mental health series is sponsored by Terri and Andrew Herenstein.

This episode is sponsored by Aleph Beta in light of their newly released season of the A Book Like No Other podcast. This podcast is a chance to learn alongside Aleph Beta Founder Rabbi David Fohrman, as he embarks on his most far-reaching and in-depth explorations of the Torah text. Aleph Beta takes the excitement of Torah learning to a whole new level! Become a member today and start listening— use code “18Forty” to get one month FREE! You will never see the Torah text the same way again.

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Yakov Danishefsky—a rabbi, author and licensed social worker—about our relationships and our mental health.

We know from Tanakh that “[i]t is not good for man to be alone.” But, when it comes to understanding our relationships, this is just the beginning, as those of us surrounded by others can still be unhappy. Psychologists can explain this phenomenon in part with the study of what they call “attachment theory.” In this episode we discuss:

• What does Abraham Maslow get wrong in his “hierarchy of needs”?
• How can attachment theory apply to our relationships with God?
• What do we really want?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how our lives are in many ways defined by the relationships around us.

Interview begins at 14:36.

Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Sex Addiction Therapist. He is the founder of Mind Body Therapy, a private group practice in Chicago. Yakov has semicha and a Master’s in Jewish Philosophy from Yeshiva University and is a popular speaker, teacher, and author on the intersection of spirituality, philosophy, and psychology. He is the author of a new book, Attached: Connecting to Our Creator: A Jewish Psychological Approach.

References:

The Office

Pirkei Avot 5

Genesis 2:18

Attached: Connecting to Our Creator: A Jewish Psychological Approach by Rabbi Yaakov Danishefsky, LCSW

What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture by Ben Horowitz

The Wisdom of No Escape and the Path of Loving-Kindness by Pema Chodron

The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self by Alice Miller