In Sacred Therapy psychotherapist and spiritual teacher Estelle Frankel travels to the heart of Jewish mysticism to reveal how people of any faith can draw upon this rich body of teachings to gain wisdom, clarity, and a deeper sense of meaning in their lives. Weaving together personal and sacred narrative, she shows readers how to transform their vulnerabilities into strengths and how to restore a sense of coherence in their lives even when things seem broken or shattered. Here she talks about her signature approach to healing and how she was able to translate it to the pages of a book.

Anna Olswanger: Why did you write Sacred Therapy?

Estelle Frankel: I wanted to share some of the ways that my life, both personally and professionally, has been inspired by Jewish teachings. For many years I had been privately engaged in blending my work as a therapist with my background as a student and teacher of Jewish mysticism. In writing Sacred Therapy, I wanted to share my personal insights with a larger audience. I was also interested in becoming part of the public discourse on psychotherapy and spirituality. After reading a number of books on Buddhist, Christian, and Sufi approaches to psychology, I decided to write a book on Jewish psychology that would illuminate the healing wisdom of the Kabbalah. And though there were already several books out there on the subject, I felt that they were written more from the head than from the heart. I wanted to write a book that would be both intellectually stimulating and emotionally accessible for lay and professional audiences.

Olswanger: Was there a precipitating event to writing the book?

Frankel: As I approached mid-life, I felt the need to integrate the different dimensions of my being. Mid-life is a time when we begin to face our mortality and think about leaving behind a legacy. Writing became my way of leaving behind a spiritual legacy and reaching out beyond the boundaries of my finite, limited universe. I also wanted to make a contribution to the field of transpersonal or spiritual psychology. I have always been aware that Jews are disproportionately represented in the helping professions, yet so few of them know about the healing wisdom of their own spiritual tradition. Having found tremendous inspiration from Jewish sources, I wanted to share these insights with other therapists and spiritual seekers.

Olswanger: How long did it take you to write Sacred Therapy?

Frankel: I worked on the book on-and-off for about six years. It wasn't entirely my choice that it took so long. I encountered a series of obstacles, such as when my first publisher closed its Jewish publishing department! After putting the project on hold for a year, I resold my book to Shambhala and then proceeded to rewrite it as a "Shambhala" book, which meant that I had to find a new voice, one that would be more universal and appeal to readers of all faiths. That turned out to be a challenge and a wonderful blessing. The first version of my book was written primarily for Jewish readers and focused on the role of paradox in Jewish mystical thought and in healing. The second version explores Jewish mysticism as a universal healing wisdom and applies these insights to the practice of psychotherapy. With Shambhala's encouragement, I wove autobiographical material into the narrative along with mystical poetry and teachings from other spiritual traditions, including Sufism, Buddhist, and Hindu mysticism. In the process of weaving together personal and sacred narratives, I found my voice as a Jewish writer, and I found that I had created a new approach to healing which I have come to refer to as "sacred narrative therapy."

Olswanger: What is sacred narrative therapy?

Frankel: Sacred narrative therapy, my signature approach to healing, involves using the sacred stories of the Torah and Kabbalah to illuminate our lives and healing journeys. In my work, the stories from the Torah serve as a Rorschach inkblot—a means of evoking and revealing that which is hidden deep within our souls. We also come to view our personal stories as sacred narratives that reflect the collective and divine dimensions of reality.

Olswanger: Did you ever lose confidence when you were writing the book?

Frankel: I went through several crises with the book. In addition to the obstacles I encountered while trying to get published, I struggled with the isolation of being a writer. I wasn't used to spending so much time alone. And I struggled with creating a structure for my book. Everything I was writing about seemed to be connected to everything else. So, each time I tried to start the book with a particular theme and set of ideas, another set of ideas would scream out, "You can't talk about that until you've talked about this!" There were many moments when I felt like quitting. However, my husband would always reflect to me the words of the I Ching, "Perseverance furthers," and I hung in there despite the isolation and many moments of despair.

I also became despondent several times when I seemed to lose whole sections of the manuscript to computer glitches. Several times I discovered at the end of a day's work that I had been editing the wrong version of a chapter!

It was unfortunate that I didn't have an outline when I began rewriting the book because an outline would have saved me time and confusion. But in truth, this book was guided much more by my unconscious mind than my conscious mind. It was only when I finished organizing the various themes into chapters, that I realized the book traced the journey from brokenness to wholeness, or from "broken-heartedness" to "whole-heartedness." This process was like putting together the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle and finally seeing the whole picture. The first chapter begins with the Lurianic Kabbalah as a model for dealing with the inevitability of brokenness in our lives, and the final chapter explores the theme of wholeness and what it means to live "wholeheartedly" from the depth of our being.

Olswanger: What was your writing schedule like?

Frankel: I spent time each day writing before and after seeing clients, but basically, any free time I had, I spent writing. I took long walks to break up the time I spent writing. I found that I had creative ideas while I walked and then I would go home to write them down.

Olswanger: How did you find your publisher?

Frankel: My first publisher actually found me after reading an essay I wrote for Tikkun magazine entitled "Repentance, Psychotherapy & Healing." While I wasn't ready at that time to take on the monumental task of writing a book, a couple of years later, I contacted the editor. I then expanded the essay into a book.

Olswanger: What has surprised you about being a published author?

Frankel: I have been surprised and delighted by the fan mail I receive from readers, including rabbis, therapists, pastors, authors, and playwrights. It has been gratifying to know that my words and teachings have touched hearts and souls all over the world. The other surprise is that I didn't realize that getting published is just the beginning. After a book comes out, you have to nurse it like a newborn baby. In fact, when my book first came out, I kept having dreams of giving birth to a baby. In my dreams, I didn't want to take care of the baby. I kept saying to myself, "I'm done with childrearing and babies." But then I give the baby some attention and suddenly it grows and matures and becomes a well-developed and precocious child. That's how my experience as an author has been. My book has become my third child. It makes all kinds of demands on me, but it has brought many wonderful people and experiences into my life.

Olswanger: Who is the book for?

Frankel: While it primarily explores the interface of Kabbalah and depth psychology, Sacred Therapy is a primer for all spiritual seekers and not just therapists.

Olswanger: Do you truly believe that books can change people?

Frankel: I know that I have been deeply affected by books. For instance, Martin Buber's The Way of Man had a profound impact on me at age sixteen. In part, that book influenced my decision to go to Jerusalem and study Torah. I also remember being deeply affected by the very first Rebbe Nachman of Breslov story that I read, "The Lost Princess." It made me want to spend my whole life immersed in Torah study. The Sufi poet Hafiz says that, "A poet is someone who can pour light onto a spoon and raise it to nourish your parched holy mouth." When words come from a deep place, they enter the heart and soul of the listener. This is true whether we are speaking or writing. I am still learning how to write from the heart.

Olswanger: How does your book differ from one of your workshops or therapy sessions?

Frankel: I hope I'm a lot more funny in person than I am in my book! Also, my book may give the false impression that I always bring Jewish teachings into therapy. In fact, I do this only on a selective basis. Yet, the spiritual perspective that I present in Sacred Therapy is something that is a part of me no matter what I'm doing, whether I'm teaching, doing therapy, or talking to a friend or loved-one. Having marinated in its juices all my adult life, Jewish mysticism has shaped my being. It's hard to separate "it" from me.

But I suppose the biggest difference between my book and my work is that in therapy I spend most of my time listening and less time talking. And in addition to the conventional psychotherapeutic attitude of "nonjudgmental, unconditional positive regard," I try to embody what the mystics referred to as a divine perspective. I try to listen with God's ear and see with God's eye. That means I try to see the divinity, or basic goodness in people so that they can come to see and experience themselves in a new light. Many of the people who seek out counseling have internalized a sense of being damaged goods, irrevocably flawed. Part of my job is to help them see and experience themselves differently, to remember their wholeness even when they feel broken, and to see their soul's perfection even when they are aware of their defects. And ultimately my job is to help them realize that no matter what they have been through in their lives, their deepest essence is pure and holy. Realizing this gives them hope that change is possible and that they have the power to transform the pain of the past into a source of blessing in their lives.

Olswanger: What is your advice to professionals, including other therapists, who want to write a book?

Frankel: You only become a writer by writing. I was certainly not a writer until I started writing. If you have something to say and you think it will be of help to people, go for it. Do it for the love of self-expression. Do it to leave a legacy.

Text copyright © 2005 Anna Olswanger and Estelle Frankel. Visit Harold Underdown's The Purple Crayon for other interviews by Anna Olswanger.