Rabbi Joel Kushner

Joel Kushner is trained as a psychologist, hospital chaplain, and spiritual director, and holds graduate degrees in counseling and clinical psychology as well as studies in organizational psychology. He began his career working at Bellevue Hospital in NYC with the mentally ill homeless and then spent ten years as a management consultant in behavioral healthcare. Next came 18 years at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion where he founded an institute on LGBTQ+ issues and Judaism and then led the Kalsman Institute on Judaism & Health which focused on health and healing. Joel began his spiritual direction practice nine years ago. With creativity being an essential path of learning and growth for him, he later applied for the first cohort of Creative Facilitator training with the Jewish Studio Project. This became a two-year journey learning a methodology to incorporate creative process (non-product focused art making) with text study to foster growth, and as a way to deepen spiritual exploration. He has also extensively supervised chaplaincy students in learning the art of pastoral care.