Contributions and Challenges to Clinical Practice from Buddhist Psychology

Abstract

Psychotherapy is considered to belong to a branch of medicine, and adheres to many conventions of the medical model. As psychotherapists continue to embrace mindfulness (a foundational practice derived from Buddhist psychology), the way we understand suffering and what is to be done about it may be informed by the insights gained in mindfulness practice. Some of these insights depart in degree and in type from the assumptions underlying the medical model, as well as from prevalent ideas of suffering, treatment, and most challenging, the idea of the self who is assumed to be at the center of suffering. By examining a number of influences of mindfulness on clinical practice, the author suggests subtle and potentially radical influences on the way we think of the healing process. It is hypothesized that the Buddhist model may offer a transtheoretical and transcultural model of suffering and its treatment.