Contemplative Psychotherapy Intro

Contemplative psychotherapy is defined, at least on the official Contemplative Psychotherapy.net website that I show on, as a blending of Buddhist awareness practices with Western psychotherapy. The term "mindfulness" has achieved a lot of currency in the last 20 years or so, what with Dr.Jon Kabat-Zinn's work on mindfulness based stress reduction, and now mindfulness based cognitive therapy, as well as with the growing presence in the culture of various meditation practices and techniques, and Dr.Marsha Linehan's extensive development of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with its "teflon mind" core, based on her years of practice of Zen Buddhist meditation.

So then, do you have to adopt Buddhism in order to benefit from contemplative psychotherapy? No, of course not. This is not a religion, or a dogma, or a cult that you have to join. It is simply an incorporation into the experience of psychotherapy of very practical and scientifically based attitudes, views and, if one wishes, practices, that have been shown to clearly aid in developing a more kind relationship with oneself, as well as with others. This is important because we now know that, and I have talked about this in previous posts, one's relationship with oneself and with one's experiences is a key factor in how one ends up feeling, and functioning in the world.

Contemplative psychotherapy aims to use the therapeutic process to help the client learn how to accept and love oneself in the best sense of the words, while also learning how to facilitate for oneself the kinds of changes that are desired, and that, depending on circumstances, may also be required in order to live a more healthy and happy life.














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