Refuah Coaches, Helping People in the Torah Community be more effective

David Ritchie, MBA

January 20, 2014

 

Torah Jews Strive To Be Effective

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Torah Jews have always striven to be more effectively fulfilling their obligations.Wise individuals sought — and seek — expert assistance in this process. Often, today, this assistance can take the form of coaching. The coaching process helps individuals evaluate where they are, to clarify their goals, and to find ways to advance and improve their middos and skills. Coaching is used to increase success in all aspects of family life, learning and business.

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Enjoying the Process

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We also have a Torah obligation to be happy, for instance — v’simachta b’chagecha. Fulfilling the mitzvah to be happy does not always come naturally or easily. In order to better manage our emotions and our lives, modern coaching techniques offer valuable, useful solutions.

 

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Coaching, a Skill and a Profession Easily Learned by Frum Jews

 

Frum Jews have a distinct advantage in learning to be skillful life coaches. After all,we have mitzvot such as, v’ahavtah l’rayechah kamochah, and we can learn from living and past role models who exemplify these mitzvot — Gedolei Yisrael, Rebbes, and Manhigim. However, today we often don’t have the benefit of enough close shimush of our role models. Fortunately, when a Jew is exposed to the science of coaching, the principles are not new or strange. In fact, many of the students of the Refuah Institute are effectively coaching others only a few months into the course. The information students learn fits with what, as Jews, they already know.

 

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Coaching Practiced by Gedolei Yisrael for Generations

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The “new” techniques taught by all the best schools of coaching were in use by Gedolei Yisrael centuries before “coaching” became a formal profession. Jews have always consulted Manhigim, seeking guidance in all aspects of their lives. The techniques and skills used by Manhigim include what are referred to in the coaching community as: establishing rapport with empathic understanding; respect and loving care; a positive, solution focused approach; building on clients’ strengths and previous successes; restoring and rebuilding a client’s sense of competence and confidence. The coach helps clients discover their true goals and to find within themselves the courage and clarity to take the steps necessary to accomplish their goals.

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Distance Learning, a Great Way to Learn Coaching

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Students of the Refuah Institute learn from home with live, fully interactive training, attending classes and practicums by conference call or video conference. Refuah’s programs are designed for those who have to balance a busy life of mitzvot, parnassah, learning and family. Students who are in Israel can join the classes on campus in Jerusalem. Both options work closely with Refuah staff and students.

 

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Why has the Refuah Program Been So Successful?

 

Refuah Institute is a powerful example of the successful use of modern techniques and technology to teach Torah truth and values. By extracting the kosher aspects of psychology and coaching and translating them back into a Torah idiom, the Refuah Institute teaches skills that are extremely effective and that do not contradict the values of Torah Jewry.

 

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The Secret of Refuah’s Success

 

What makes any organization a success are the people behind the name. Refuah’s faculty integrates Torah values and the science of modern coaching into their own lives. The dean and founder of the Refuah Institute is Dr. Joshua Ritchie. In addition to having semichah, Professor Ritchies professional experience includes years as a professor and medical practitioner, and of training students in the art and science of coaching, counseling and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Professor Ritchie’s coaching methods blend his secular training and his close association with the Amshinover Rebbe, zt”l. As a ben bayis and shamash to the Rebbe, Professor Ritchie was privileged to spend over a thousand hours observing the methods employed by the Rebbe when counseling individuals in yechidus.

 

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Who are the Refuah Students?

 

Refuah students possess training or life experience in such areas as education, the rabbinate, shadchanus, kiruv, marriage, parenting, organizational leadership, law, business and counseling. Graduates of the one-year comprehensive training program receive a Certified Life Coach Diploma from the Refuah Institute and certification as a Professional Coach from the AAPC. Upon graduation, students use their training and credentials to advance their careers in a wide range of settings. Some graduates develop a private coaching practice, usually by telephone from home.

 

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Program Begins Soon

 

If you believe coaching may be your calling, contact the Refuah Institute for more information about this exciting opportunity.Tel. 646-395-9613 (USA) or 972-2-5715112 (Israel). Email:Refuahoffice@gmail.com Website:www.refuah.net