TRANSPERSONAL
PSYCHOTHERAPIST
BEREAVEMENT
COUNSELOR
SPIRITUAL
DIRECTOR
JEWISH SPIRITUALITY
CONSULTANT
DEATH AWARENESS
EDUCATOR
SCHOLAR OF
AFTERLIFE MYTHOLOGY
LIFECYCLE RITUAL
FACILITATOR
HOSPICE/CHAPLAINCY
CONSULTANT
RABBINIC
PASTOR
BIOGRAPHICAL
INFORMATION

Dr. Simcha Raphael

• • Founder and Director, DA’AT INSTITUTE – Death Awareness, Advocacy and Training
  • Ph.D., Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco, CA (1986)
  • Rabbinic Pastor, ordination by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1990)
  • Transpersonal Psychotherapist, Mount Airy Counseling Center, Philadelphia, PA
  • Adjunct Faculty, Psychology Department, Bryn Athyn College,
    Bryn Athyn, PA
  • Adjunct Faculty, Department of Religion, La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA
  • Professor of Jewish Spirituality, D. Min. Program in Jewish Spirituality, Graduate Theological Foundation, Mishawaka, IN
  • Adjunct Associate Professor (2007-2014), Jewish Studies, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
  • Spiritual Director (1999-2009), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Wyncote, PA
  • Fellow, Rabbis Without Borders
  • Free-lance educator on mysticism, spirituality, death, afterlife and bereavement
  • Author Jewish Views of the Afterlife, Jason Aronson, 1996, Rowman and Littlefield, 2009 (2nd edition) 
  • Author The Grief Journey and the Afterlife: Jewish Pastoral Care for Bereavement, Albion-Andalus Books, 2014
  • Author Living and Dying in Ancient Times: Death, Burial and Mourning in Biblical Tradition, Albion-Andalus Books, 2015
  • Author May the Angels Carry You, Jewish Prayers and Meditations for the Deathbed, Albion-Andalus Books, 2016
  • Born July 1, 1951 Ste. Agathe des Monts, Quebec
  • Married to Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael 
  • Father of Hallel [b. 1998] and Yigdal Raphael [b. 1990]

Welcome to my web page – glad to share with you the ways in which I offer my skills and experiences.

As a Psychotherapist, Bereavement Counselor and Spiritual Director

I provide transpersonal psychotherapy; individual and group bereavement counseling; couple counseling; spiritual direction; marriage preparation; interfaith counseling; pastlife therapy; pastoral care and hospice support.

As a Death Awareness Educator

I am available for public and professional programs on death awareness education, bereavement counseling skills and the spirituality of afterlife, near-death experiences and reincarnation.

As a Rabbinic Pastor and Ritual Consultant

I work with individuals in creating meaningful personal rituals for weddings, baby-naming, memorial services, funerals, unveilings, as well as personal and communal rituals of grief and mourning.