Frumn…..
I get sickened by the implications that connect psychology with kefira. This may sound radical, but I know some Kollel Yungerleit, even some who occupy rabbinical positions of leadership whose emunoh in HKB”H is seriously lacking if not corrupt. The reality is that these dismissals as kefira are somewhere between absurd and ridiculous. Anyone can be a kofer, and their choice career or profession has nothing to do with it.
The fields of mental health involve a wide spectrum of approaches. These stretch from the strictly Freudian approach to the most behavioral, from the uses of medications to various forms of emotional and cognitive therapies. In formal training, there is background taught in a variety of these, and the student is exposed to multiple techniques. As in anything else, people learn certain parts of the science with greater preference, and specialties in the practice of psychology exist just as would be found in auto mechanics, computer programming, law, and medicine. If someone lacks the recognition of the spectrum of the field, and believes his/her specialty is all that exists, we are dealing with a fool, not a kofer. If a doctor fails to recognize an ailment that is outside his/her specialty, than we are dealing with someone lacking competence, not faith.
It is true that the psychologist, just like a doctor, and just like any other worker, needs to know that the outcomes are dependent on Syatta Dishmaya, and to whatever degree relevant, the bechira of the “patient” to follow instructions. HKB”H is “Rofeh Cholei Amo Yisroel”. Health practitioners are only shluchim of HKB”H to carry out His refuah through application of “tevah”. The denier of HKB”H as the actual healer is kefira. But that can refer to the patient or the observer, not just the therapist.
Please don’t get sucked into the baloney that psychology is kefira. It is not so anymore than practice of medicine.
Lastly, it is necessary to comment on a common mistake that is often a fatal error. With all the regard we need to have for “Daas Torah”, it is not a guarantee that consulting a Rov or Rosh Yeshiva about an issue related to mental health is useful. If that person happens to be informed on the subject matter, or can consult with a Torah knowledgeable professional to get informed, that may be great. But too many casualties have happened from the well intentioned advice given by rabbonim who did not understand the subject matter.