We live in multiple realities, and often they become too entagled for us to find our way. A spiritual guide or counselor is most of all a facilitator – one who helps another gain needed clarity and insight in order to continue to develop and grow. This is what Nochum Elek takes to be his overriding concern as a therapist.
Nochum grew up in Paris, son of a Holocaust survivor, intellectual and book dealer and his wife, an artist and dealer in fine art prints. At an early age he was exposed to avant garde cinema and painting, ethnic and folk music, and a wide range of literature. After reading Martin Buber as a boy, however, he fell in love with the Hasidic mysticism that had been the path of his grandparents, and finally persuaded his secular parents to send him to a Hasidic yeshivah – in the heart of Jerusalem’s Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, Meah Shearim.
As a young Toldos Aharon hasid, Nochum came to America and married, earned rabbinic ordination from the United Talmudic Academy (1984) and then taught in a yeshivah and a school for special needs children. Eventually he found that he had to integrate the many sides of his life and his diverse interests. Nochum went back to school, earning a BA in Psychology from Touro College (1994). He studed social work at NYU, and went on to earn various certifications, including in Cognitive Therapy from C.A.R.E. (2002) and Free Will Therapy from the institute of the same name, studying directly under Dr. Elliot Kaplan (2000). He was awarded a Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling in 2006.
Over the years, he studied various Kabbalah and Hasidic mystical philosophy with teachers in France, Israel and America. He also renewed his childhood interest in the martial arts and studied Tai-Ji and Chi Gong with various masters.
Today Nochum works as a freelance teen counselor in various Brooklyn schools, and privately as a psychotherapist, personal growth coach and spiritual mentor, based in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. He works with teens and adults from all backgrounds, faiths (or non-faiths), and walks of life. Given his unusual background and open mindset, Nochum feels an easy rapport with virtually everyone he meets.
Over the years, Nochum has developed his own methodologies to assist others in coming to terms with life’s challenges and awakening their inner potentials. Always broadening his therapeutic horizons, Nochum continues to explore new tools and modalities to facilitate healing and growth for himself and others.
More than anything, Nochum is a student of life and seeks to learn from every experience and every person. As he has learned from both his Eastern and Hasidic studies, living in the moment is the most fertile ground for human growth.
