Buddhist Psychotherapy in Action

Abstract

The wisdom of the Buddha's teaching has sustained the test of time for over 2,500 years. In contrast to Western psychology's emphasizing on ego, self, and object relations, Buddhist psychology retains a different perspective to a healthy life. Hence, this paper will discuss the key concepts of Buddhist psychology, Buddhism's view of human nature, and the basic underlying assumptions. Second, the author will describe how Buddhism perceives suffering and how mental suffering is formed. Furthermore, this paper will describe the role of therapist, the experience of clients and the therapeutic relationship based on the Buddhist Psychotherapy approach. Finally, the author will demonstrate the essence of Buddhist Psychotherapy with a case study and discuss the fundamental differences between the Buddhist's and West's viewpoints on psychotherapy.