Buddhism for Therapists
I. Basic Buddhist principles
A. The three types of suffering and how to alleviate suffering
1. Suffering of illness
2. Suffering of change
3. All pervasive suffering
B. How interdependence and compassion intersect
1. Assistance from all sentient beings occurs minute by minute
2. Gratitude for the offerings of others
3. Investing in a wisely selfish attitude of altruistic compassion
C. The three poisons and the 6 perfections: negative emotion from a Buddhist perspective
D. What is meditation?
1. Shamatha, or concentration
2. Vipassana, or insight
3. Mindfulness, or awareness of moment by moment change
D. Participants will experience above methods, briefly
II. Suffering presented from Western medical and psychological models
A. Suffering as something to be eliminated, or at least controlled
B. Behavioral Medicine Models of CBT for Chronic Pain and insomnia
III. Negative emotion from a psychodynamic viewpoint with IPT interventions
A. Karen Horney's three methods of relating to others
B. Using the therapeutic relationship to intervene with IPT
IV. Putting it all together: Buddhism, meditation, behavioral medicine, IPT
A. Summary of complimentary methods for better treatment of illness
B. East/West models of wellness
V. Questions and answers