Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective

By Mark Epstein

Book Overview

Insights on the interface between Buddhist teachings and Western psychotherapy by the best-selling author of Thoughts without a Thinker Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of Buddha's wisdom is the notion of no-self, while the central focus of Western psychotherapy is the self. This book, which includes writings from the past twenty-five years, wrestles with the complex relationship between Buddhism and psychotherapy and offers nuanced reflections on therapy, meditation, and psychological and spiritual development. A best-selling author and popular speaker, Epstein has long been at the forefront of the effort to introduce Buddhist psychology to the West. His unique background enables him to serve as a bridge between the two traditions, which he has found to be more compatible than at first thought. Engaging with the teachings of the Buddha as well as those of Freud and Winnicott, he offers a compelling look at desire, anger, and insight and helps reinterpret the Buddha's Four Noble Truths and central concepts such as egolessness and emptiness in the psychoanalytic language of our time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300143133
• ISBN13: 9780300143133
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Reconciling Buddhism and Western Psychotherapy

This is a wonderful book by a practicing psychiatrist, perfect for this point in my life. Based on a deep knowledge of both Buddhism and psychotherapy, Epstein resolves for me the perplexing apparent contradiction between Buddhism's "no-self" and psychotherapy's focus on the Self and its difficulties. Subtle, personally engaging and well-written, it is full of wisdom based on Epstein's broad study,reflection, and his own life experience. Because it is a collection of articles and essays written over many years, there is some repetition, but it never hurts to hear these insights more than once.

Highly illuminating

I highly recommend this book for those who question the borderland between spirituality and psychotherapy. As a growth oriented psychotherapist, I have an ongoing curiosity about what defines psychotherapy as different from spiritual growth and realization. This book provides some key understandings of the correlations between buddhist practices and how they can be understood from a psychoanalytical perspective. Both camps benefit from this kind of intelligent communication between the two disciplines. I especially appreciated how concentration meditation can mislead a person into thinking they have "arrived" as they access a symbiotic experience, and not realize the further development of consciousness through the separation/individuation process, which unfolds out of this initial merged experience.

Giant Step

This is an invaluable book for all therapists. Epstein does a masterful job of connecting analytic thought with Buddhist teachings. He apparently speaks from experience when he discusses the difficulties we all encounter along our paths. Then he goes a step further and shows how these insights can help direct the therapeutic encounter. This is a genuine, sincere, honest expression from the heart. I am very grateful.