Buddhism: Who Needs It?

Abstract

Abstract The author evaluates the relationship between psychotherapy and Buddhism. Section I investigates evidence concerning the effectiveness of incorporating Buddhist practices, principally mindfulness, into psychotherapy in general, and into Gestalt therapy in particular. Beginning with a brief look at the history of Buddhism in America, viewed especially as able to heal physical and mental illness, and the possible influence of Buddhism on the origins of Gestalt therapy, he concludes that, despite claims to the contrary, there is little evidence to support the effectiveness of using mindfulness in psychotherapy. Section II addresses the ethical question of whether mindfulness practices can be successfully extracted from their religious origins for use in the secular context of psychotherapy. Section III examines how the inclusion of mindfulness in many forms of therapy, and the proliferation of mindfulness workshops and “tools,” may be negatively affecting the understanding of Buddhism itself.