Buddhism offers a distinct model of psychology based on its core teachings which understands human process as being, to different degrees, based upon our flight from the existential truths of our lives. We construct realities for ourselves in an attempt to create a semblance of control and permanence in the face of life’s uncertainties and the difficult experiences which we inevitably have. This process limits our experiencing of the world and builds rigidities and falsities in the psyche, which can for some become the bases of mental health problems, whilst for others they simply narrow and bias perception of the world. In this way we come to live in bubbles of preconception and tend to cut off from aspects of life and people who do not fit our mental maps.
Other-centred therapy draws on this understanding and seeks to restore our aliveness by rebuilding our connections to the world. Therapy focuses particularly on our relatedness to others; human and other-than-human. It explores our inter-relatedness and recognises the fact that we live within a network of conditions that hold in place our beliefs and perceptions. Other-centred methodologies, which reflect a client-led relational model, explore the client’s world not only from their own perspective, but also, in imagination and reconstruction, through the eyes of some of the significant others who share it, inviting empathy and honesty as the process moves between the subjective and objective viewpoints. It explores both the minutiae of particular relationships, with the projections and the truth involved, and the wider systems within which they operate.
Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event
- A basic understanding of the Buddhist understanding of mental process
- An understanding of how this can be applied in therapeutic practice
- An understanding of the psychological model which lies behind mindfulness
Who is This Workshop Appropriate For?
- counsellors and psychotherapists and those working in mental health settings with a therapeutic orientation
How May This Workshop Impact Your Practice?
- It will offer new ways of viewing human psychology and specific methods which can be adapted to their work
Course Content
Presenter
Author of seven books on Buddhism and psychotherapy and many papers and articles, Caroline holds an MPhil in counselling, diplomas in counselling and groupwork and a supervision certificate. She is a BACP Accredited psychotherapist. Caroline originally trained as a teacher and has worked extensively in education, health and with women’s groups. She has been a teacher and is an ordained Jodo Shinshu Buddhist priest (Japanese Pure Land Buddhism). In the past she has taken a special interest in eating disorders and more recently in ecotherapy. Caroline has three adult children.
Caroline set up the initial Ten Directions ecotherapy training course in France back in 2011. It has continued to grow ever since, with Caroline’s involvement being key at every stage.
Caroline is a member of the core Ten Directions team.
