A Kibbutz on the Couch A Kibbutz on the Couch
i
Drawing from the archives
The Other School

A Kibbutz on the Couch

An Interview with Shai Orr
Ewa Pawlik
Reading
time 10 minutes

A journalist comes to the therapist. She asks questions and so does he. Together, they seek answers. Ewa Pawlik talks with Shai Orr, the author of the book Miraculous Parenting.

Before Shai Orr became a renowned therapist, whose books are read worldwide, he’d had his ups and downs. He grew up in an Israeli kibbutz, which in his childhood looked nothing like an idyllic, eco-friendly settlement for people tired of city life and eager to be closer to nature. Back then, in a typical kibbutz, children used to be separated from their parents, which means that the traditional family model was practically non-existent. It was replaced by a communal way of life, grounded in Zionist and socialist philosophies. After years, many kibbutz principles were deemed harmful, since they left people, especially children, emotionally wounded. This led to radical changes in how those communities were run.

Shai left the kibbutz as a young man. Before turning 30, he’d led an ordinary life. He’d started a family and become a professional musician and lecturer. But then he faced a major crisis. He fell into depression, which first took his music career away, and then turned his life upside down. The process of recovery was long and painful. When he eventually got better, all that was left from his old life was his marriage. Shai decided to change his career path and became a therapist. In the new life he was building, he wanted to help others and proved good at it.

A growing number of people are suffering from depression, addiction and mental disorders. Some get out of this unscathed; others are unable to recover for long years.

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