Asian Psychotherapies

1
Asian Psychotherapies
2
Thoughts from Corsini and Wedding
3
Agree or Disagree

• There is growing evidence that Western
  psychotherapies may have significantly
  underestimated the psychologies and therapies of
  other cultures. Why?

4
Asian Therapies Are

• Effective
• Simple
• Inexpensive
• Often Pleasurable
• (C W, p. 407)

5
Asian Therapies Can

• Reduce stress
• Ameliorate multiple psychological and
  psychosomatic disorders
• Offer profound insights into the mind
• Accelerate mental and emotional development
• Foster latent capacities and potentials
• (C W, p. 407)

6
Discuss

• Discuss the good news/bad news assumptions found
  in Asian therapies (see p.409)

7
Good News/Bad News8 Central Assumptions

• 1. Our usual state of mind is significantly
  dysfunctional, underdeveloped, and uncontrolled
• 2. We do not usually recognize the extent of
  this normal dysfunction for 2 reasons
• Almost all of us share the dysfunction so it does
  not stand out
• Self-masking

8
Good News/Bad News8 Central Assumptions

• 3. Our psychological suffering is a function of
  this mental dysfunction
• 4. It is possible to train and develop the mind
  beyond conventional levels and limits so as to
  reduce this dysfunction and to develop
  supranormal capacities (e.g., heightened
  concentration, compassion, joy, insight)

9
Good News/Bad News8 Central Assumptions

• 5. Training the mind in this way is an optimal
  strategy for enhancing well-being in oneself and
  others
• 6. Training the mind in this way allows us to
  recognize that we suffer from a case of mistaken
  identity. We recognize that the self-image,
  self-concept, ego that we assume to be our true
  self is an image or concept only, and that our
  true nature is something far more remarkable

10
Good News/Bad News8 Central Assumptions

• 7. Meditation and yoga are effective techniques
  for training the mind in this way
• 8. These claims do not have to be accepted on
  blind faith but can be tested for oneself
• (Corsini Wedding, p. 409)

11
Our Consensus Trance or Shared Hypnosis

• William James (1958) Compared to what we ought
  to be, we are only half awake. Our fires are
  dampened, our drafts are checked, we are making
  use of only a small part of our mental and
  physical resources (p. 410).

12
Discuss

• Look over the introductory exercises and
  mediations from the seven practices common to
  Asian Therapies (pp. 435-7).
• What do you think?
• 1. Say Only What is True and Helpful
• 2. Using Wise Attention to Cultivate Beneficial
  Emotions

13
Seven Practices

• 3. Examine the Experience of Attachment
• 4. Do One Thing at a Time
• 5. Awareness Meditation and Mindful Eating
• 6. Reflecting on Our Mortality
• 7. Transforming Pain into Compassion