Tikkun haklali (Breslov ten-psalm remedy)

Domain XIII · Contemplative & religious disciplines · Rebbe Nachman of Breslov · 1810

What it is

Tikkun HaKlali ("the General Remedy" or "General Rectification") is a fixed set of ten Psalms, 16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137 and 150, recited in that order. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (the Hasidic master whose followers form the Breslov movement) taught that the Book of Psalms rests on ten…

Format

• The tradition sets out no phases. What follows is a clinical framework for working alongside the practice. No source gives a session count, so none is stated.
• Engagement and meaning (first sessions). Goal: learn what Tikkun HaKlali is for this client: a daily joy practice, a response to a specific event, a grave-visit or Uman pilgrimage practice, a family custom, or something they feel they "must" do. Also establish consent to discuss religious material,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• sleeplessness, euphoria, terror, derealisation.
• fear of parents or teachers finding out; rapid escalation of rituals.
• confusing intensity of belief with pathology; dismissing functional decline as piety.
• the therapist's own views about religion steering the client; grief that gets mistaken for relief.
• the client feeling exposed to the community; the therapist drifting into a religious-authority role.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.