Why I Chose a Career in Mental Health: Touro Alum Spends His Days Bringing Help and Hope to Those in Need
Levi Rapoport, alum of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Program at Touro’s School of Health Sciences talks about his passion for mental
health and helping others improve their lives.
Why did you choose
mental health as your career path?
Growing up as the child of a Chabad Rabbi, counseling people was
something I was aware of from a young age. As a teacher, I often had to act as
an amateur therapist with my students and their parents. I was introduced to
formal psychotherapy through personal experiences in my adult life. I began to
see its value across the board of human experience, including for those for
whom religion provided a grounding sense of existential value but lacked the
technical tools to implement optimal emotional and social coping skills.
What do you love about the field?
I love bringing hope where there was hopelessness and despair,
and clarity where there was confusion. I enjoy helping people acquire emotional
and social coping skills. And I love showing people what they had all along, and
then their discovery that they no longer need me.
What surprised you
most about the field?
First, how much psychotherapy has to offer, even to people who
are accomplished thinkers and are devoutly religious. Second, how much
misunderstanding there is in the general population about what psychotherapy is
and is not. Third, how there are so many different modalities of psychotherapy
which seem so different, but upon deeper understanding are very much the same.
Sometimes I can integrate cognitive therapy, internal family systems and
attachment theory into one intervention. For example, if a client is having
unhealthy rage towards their partner, I can help them understand what
attachment needs they are being deprived of, what language they are using to
process and exacerbate this irritation, how to change that internal dialogue to
a healthier one which can help sooth their attachment needs, and change their
unhealthy rage into healthy frustration, which in turn will invite a better
response from their partner.
Why did you choose
Touro for grad school?
Touro recognized my Yeshiva education and allowed that to
contribute to the coursework needed to earn my undergrad degree and gain
acceptance to the master’s program. Additionally, I was seeking a school that
would not challenge me to compromise my religious values.
Can you describe your
current position?
I currently work full-time in my own private practice in Crown
Heights Brooklyn. Before the pandemic, I was working as a school therapist in
the same institution where I was once a teacher, as well as some other local
elementary and preschools. When the pandemic began, I moved into private
practice full time and I have since then almost exclusively been doing
teletherapy. I find the work fulfilling and enjoyable. My current work is
primarily with adults dealing with everyday life issues and the anxieties they
bring, including relationships, work, financial struggles, self-esteem
challenges, etc. I think there’s no better way to live my life than helping
others live their lives better.
To learn more about Touro's Master's in Mental Health Counseling
please visit our website https://shs.touro.edu/programs/mental-health-counseling/