The Family Institute, located on the campus at Neve Yerushalayim in Har Nof, Jerusalem, is a unique family therapy training institute and counseling center serving the needs of the religious Dati/Charedi community of Jerusalem and its surrounding region.

The Institute is staffed by experienced, religious mental health professionals who fully understand the cultural nuances, religious values, and lifestyles of their clients. They are committed to providing the religious community with high quality professional service at affordable cost. The director of the Family Institute is Dr. Yisrael Levitz.

The Family Institute offers the following programs:

A Certificate Program in Family Studies for those with a bachelor's degree who wish to enter the field of family therapy and counseling.
Internship Program - advanced postgraduate training in marriage and family therapy leading to a certificate of competency in these areas.
Professional Development Seminars and Minicourses on important therapeutic issues for the staff of the Institute, as well as for other mental health professionals working in the religious community.
A Counseling Center that provides religious clientele with a dynamic blend of counseling approaches, supportive services, and collaborative teamwork for a wide range of personal, marital, and family problems. Services are provided at a subsidized cost.
A multi-level program dedicated to the prevention and treatment of the growing problem of domestic violence in the Dati-Charedi community. As part of the program, advanced clinical training in treating domestic abuse is provided for the family therapists of the Family Institute and for other mental health professionals working with a religious clientele. This program has been partially funded by the UJA - Federation of New York.

For a schedule of Professional Development Seminars, click here.
For a schedule of Family Institute Minicourses, click here.

Certificate Program in Family Studies

The Family Institute offers an intensive two-year Certificate Program in Family Studies to women who have a bachelor's degree. Students who successfully complete the program are eligible to apply to the Family Institute for advanced training in Counseling and Family Therapy.

The Family Studies program provides its students with the opportunity to develop fundamental counseling skills across a broad spectrum of practice-fields. Students in the program acquire a strong conceptual and theoretical background with which to apply to their clinical practice. Although this is a non-credit, non-degree program of studies, it nevertheless is both intensive and demanding in its training of future counseling professionals.

The objectives of the program are to help religious women develop a high level of "culture-sensitive" competency in the field of counseling and family therapy in preparation for service to the Dati/Charedi community in Israel. It is intended as a path to a fulfilling professional career in counseling. Above all, it affords participants in the program the opportunity to contribute to the betterment and welfare of both the religious community and the larger society of Israel.

For further information see Contact Us below.

Postgraduate Training

The Family Institute serves as a unique postgraduate training center in advanced marriage and family therapy for religious women who have successfully completed graduate studies in related mental health fields. The program advances the clinical skills of the professionals so that they can better serve the counseling needs of the Dati/Charedi community. The following study opportunities are available:

Internship -- an advanced postgraduate certificate program in marriage and family therapy
Externship - supervised practice by one-way mirror observation teams
Advanced Externship - Live Supervision

For further information see Contact Us below.

Professional Development Programs

The Family Institute serves as a Professional Developmental Center for the entire community of religious mental health professionals, including its own staff. The Institute's goal is to provide these practitioners with high-level continuing educational opportunities at a reasonable cost that can enhance their clinical skills and increase their professional knowledge. These programs employ a dynamic blend of didactic, clinical, and experiential instruction. Some of the programs include:

Professional Development Seminars offering a wide range of clinical topics. Open to both men and women.
Minicourses that provide skills and knowledge-based seminars. Open to women only.
Summer Institute presenting Master Therapists from around the world.

For more information or to receive a schedule of classes, see Contact Us below.

Counseling Center

The Counseling Center is the community service division of the Family Institute. It offers a full range of confidential counseling services at low, subsidized fees for individuals, couples, and families of the Dati-Charedi community of the greater Jerusalem area. The Counseling Center is staffed by professional therapists and supervisors who themselves are members of a Dati-Charedi community. They understand the cultural nuances and religious values of their clients and are especially sensitive to their particular concerns. They are fully committed to provide all the services in accordance with halachic guidelines. Religious clients who need help with their personal, marital, parenting, or family problems, come to the Counseling Center with a sense of trust that their way of life will be respected and valued. The full range of clinical counseling services include:

Individual therapy for adults, adolescents, and children
Marital counseling
Family therapy
Treatment of abuse victims
Psychiatric and psychological consultations
Children's services

The Counseling Center is situated in a private, yet accessible area of the Neve Yerushalayim Campus on Rechov Beit Yitschak, in Har Nof, Jerusalem. It is easily accessible by several bus lines (#2, 11, 15, 33). The Center is open from Sunday through Thursday by appointment only. To make an appointment, a professional referral, or to receive further information, contact us at:
FamilyInstitute@neveyerushalayim.org.il
Telephone # 02- 652-7893

Domestic Violence Program

With support from the UJA - New York Federation, the Family Institute at Neve Yerushalayim launched a multi-level program to prevent and treat the growing incidence of domestic violence among Dati-Charedi families. The program's three-prong approach to the problem of domestic violence entails the following:

PREVENTION: Educates the Dati-Charedi public to the prevalence of domestic abuse and violence through a Family Life Education series that enlists local religious authorative figures, such as rabbis, religious teachers, rebbetzins, etc. Public educational workshops and presentations are given that are devoted to the prevention of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in religious families. An intensive two-day conference on Domestic Violence in the Religious Community will inaugurate the Family Life Education series in the fall of 2003.
TRAINING: Provides special training in the latest methods of treating domestic abuse for mental health professionals serving the religious community, including the therapists in the Institute. The first training session took place at an intensive one-day seminar on The Effects of Domestic Abuse on the Development of Religious Young Adults. Renowned experts in the field from Israel and abroad were featured at the conference.
TREATMENT: Treat the victims and rehabilitate the perpetrators in the specially dedicated Domestic Violence unit in the Family Institute. The Institute's therapists provide the treatment.

For further information see Contact Us below.

Contact Information

For more information about the Certificate Program in Family Studies, contact us at:

Suri_greenwald@neveyerushalayim.org.il
Telephone # 02- 654-4515

For more information about postgraduate training, professional development, the Counseling Center, and domestic violence programs, contact us at:

FamilyInstitute@neveyerushalayim.org.il
Telephone # 02-652-7893

The Family Institute and Counseling Center is open from Sunday through Thursday from 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. It is located near the entrance of the Neve Yerushalayim Campus on Rechov Beit Yitzchak, in Har Nof, Jerusalem. It is easily accessible by several bus lines (#2, 11,15,33).