Rabbi Yonasan Bender

Yonasan is a graduate of the Hebrew University’s School of Social Work and Social Welfare. He completed postgraduate training in a wide array of therapeutic approaches, including CBT at the Beck Institute, behavior and emotion-focused therapies, marital therapy, and parenting. In addition to his studies at the Hebrew University, he is currently pursuing professional development in Jungian analysis.  Before Hebrew University, he studied at Washington University in St. Louis and Drake University, majoring in philosophy and ethics. He received his rabbinic ordination from Rav Yitzchak Berkowitz and served as a rabbi in northern England. He has taught Jewish philosophy and ethics in numerous yeshivas and seminaries and presents regular courses on Jewish moral symbolism and issues in contemporary psychotherapy to the public. Yonasan is a member of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He’s a key member of the clinical team at The Place, the Jerusalem Centre for Emotional Wellbeing.  As a dialectical behavioral therapist skills trainer, he collaborates with Machon Dvir. He’s also served as an instructor for the National Educational Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder Family Connections program. Yonasan specializes in treating anxiety, depression, anger, poor self-esteem, insomnia, autism, eating disorders, psychosis, problems in parenting, and marital conflict. He has an extensive background working with individuals, couples, families, and children in his therapy practice in Jerusalem. As a part of Professor Benish-Weisman’s research lab, he is currently investigating the connection between one’s value structure and how this might be expressed in their broader prosocial behavior. Yonasan resides in Jerusalem with his wife, Braha, and four amazing children.