“Pastoral counseling” is a special form of non-therapeutic counselling which integrates personal spirituality, faith, and religious/ethnic/cultural sensibilities. Pastoral counseling provides support and strength, guidance and help during periods of grief, stress, isolation, family crisis, exploration of life goals, and life transitions. Those who seek pastoral counseling sessions may be struggling with existential questions of meaning, faith, family, history, and future; they wish to speak with a clergyperson who has deeply delved into these issues with others. Or they may be questioning their received heritage or Jewish family history, and exploring a path that makes sense to them for living a Jewish life. Pastoral counselling combines active listening with guiding questions and may also include practical advice on how to handle situations which can cause spiritual chasms, crisis of faith, or deep questions in relationships or families. It is not psychotherapy and does not accept long-term commitments/sessions. As a Rabbi for over 40 years, I have had the privilege of walking with people through many kinds of spiritually challenging journeys— everything from dealing with children’s choices of partners to finding out you are Jewish as a surprise; from coming out as LGBTQ to planning one’s own funeral; from fears of antisemitism at work to feelings of isolation, anger, or confusion after a loved one’s death; and everything in between.

I offer pastoral counselling for 1-4 sessions, depending on your goals. The first session is $155US/$185CA, and any subsequent sessions are $135US/$165CA each. You can decide after our first session how you would like to proceed. Sessions are 50 minutes in length and are done on zoom. Pastoral counseling is not covered by OHIP nor by private insurance companies.