Contemplative Psychotherapy
Contemplative Psychotherapy was Developed by: Trungpa Rinpoche
Overview of Contemplative Psychotherapy: “Contemplative psychotherapy is the blending of Western psychotherapy with Buddhist awareness practices. From this perspective, our ability to be present with whatever arises in the moment is the foundation for meaningful psychotherapy. Our actual experience is the doorway to self-acceptance and authentic change.
Traditional psychotherapy tends to pathologize people's pain, and generally focuses on changing or fixing undesirable symptoms. From the contemplative point of view, our basic nature is intrinsically healthy but our awareness of this health is often obscured. Contemplative psychotherapy is a process of uncovering this fully awake and aware state. We become liberated from unnecessary suffering through experiencing ourselves in the moment, exactly as we are.” --excerpt from Contemplative Psychotherapy.net
“Contemplative psychotherapy focuses on how you relate to yourself first and foremost. We then move on to how you relate to others keeping in mind your self awareness, strengths, needs and desires. Aside from traditional psychology, contemplative psychotherapists are trained in the philosophy and mindfulness/awareness practices of Buddhism. The intensive training allows us to delve deep into the human experience of mind and stay present. This is important because Buddhist thought on suffering is that the individual creates distraction to avoid the full reality of our experience. In other words, we learn at an early age to filter out aspects of our authentic experience in order to conform to some sort of status quo. A contemplative therapist is trained in helping the client achieve a more accurate picture of their experience.” --excerpt from Contemplative Buddhist psychotherapy
Resources Related to Contemplative Psychotherapy:
Naropa University
Contemplative Psychotherapy.net
Contemplative Buddhist Psychotherapy
Wikipedia's Page about Contemplative Psychotherapy
Books Related to Contemplative Psychotherapy:
Please add your comments about Contemplative Psychotherapy - (click here to add a comment)