Contemplative Psychotherapy Practice
Contemplative psychotherapy is a unique form of therapy that combines East and West. For those who want to heal themselves, practice mindfulness, and improve their overall mental health, it’s a good form of therapy to try. In this post, we’ll explain more about it.
What Is Contemplative Psychotherapy? (CP)
CP combines Eastern Buddhist beliefs with Western medicine. It’s a relatively new form of therapy. In the 1970s, a Tibetan meditator known as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche had a conversation with western psychologists, and this dialogue created CP. In 1978, the Contemplative Psychotherapy department was built.
Rinpoche wanted to bring Buddhism to the West and make the philosophies less focused on religion and more on terms Westerners used, such as making meditation a more secular practice.
How does CP blend both sides? On the Eastern side, it uses concepts such as mindfulness and meditation. For the West, it has aspects of therapy and theories of human development.
Principles Of CP
People who practice Contemplative Psychotherapy believe that everyone can have brilliant sanity, which is natural wisdom that can heal and make people more self-aware. Contemplative Psychotherapy believes in people’s inherent goodness, and Contemplative Psychotherapy wants people to tap into their brilliant sanity and improve themselves as a person.
Contemplative Psychotherapy uses the Four Noble Truths of the Buddhist philosophy. These include:
- The Truth of Suffering. This is when people ignore their suffering, even though everyone has it. Suffering is a painful experience.
- The Origin of Suffering: Suffering comes from the ego, where you want to create a permanent self. In reality, people are always evolving.
- Cessation of Suffering: Your suffering can disappear once you stop trying to have a permanent self. By being yourself, you can feel better.
- The Truth of the Path: Once you accept yourself for who you are, you can find your path and accomplish any goals.
The Eastern philosophies of Contemplative Psychotherapy are just a part of its principles. Here are the Western principles that are the tools needed for it to be successful.
- Therapeutic relationship: this is the relationship between the therapist and the client. To have successful therapy, the relationship between therapist and client needs to be strong.
- Therapeutic practice: Therapists must practice their techniques if they want to succeed. Many therapists who practice CP used Buddhist techniques to connect with their patients. These practices can make the therapist more patient with their client. They can be patient with those who are stubborn and friendly towards those who are mad.
- Therapeutic exchange: This is the therapist’s current relationship with their client. The therapists who are connected to their clients can feel the energy coming from their clients quite well. If the client feels anxious, some of the anxiousness may rub off.
Techniques Used In Contemplative Psychotherapy
CP uses various techniques from the Eastern world. These can help increase mindfulness, awareness of your present surroundings and improve your well-being and sanity. Different therapists will use different techniques, but in general, these are the techniques used:
- Shamatha: This is a sitting meditation that promotes mindfulness. The patient will try to figure out the present and what is not and learn how to figure out their own biases.
- Maitri: this is where the therapist helps the client accept themselves and their lives up to that point. They learn how to avoid challenging their real selves and how to be curious about new experiences. Sometimes, a person needs to experience new things to find out what their true selves are.
- Touch and Go. This is another mindfulness technique. They will make their experience tangible and then make it “go” to be no emotional attachment. Therapists mostly use it to help them resist any anger from their clients. The therapist experiences anger or touch and then lets it go to continue helping the client.
Differences Between CP And Other Forms Of Therapy
Most Western therapies will focus on why the person is suffering and try to eliminate the source. Meanwhile, CP views the past and sources of pain as hindrances to a person’s journey towards reaching their internal wisdom. People who practice Contemplative Psychotherapy believe that finding your real self is how you heal from your past trauma. This is especially effective towards people who spend their lives under a persona that is not theirs. We all change ourselves a bit to talk to a certain group of people. How you are at your job or around family is usually how you’re not in a casual setting. However, you may sometimes lose your true self, and Contemplative Psychotherapy can help you find that true self once again.
How CP Therapists Are Trained
You may wonder how your therapist is qualified. Like any form of therapy, they have to get educated and have certification to practice. Many training programs can make someone the master of Contemplative Psychotherapy. For example, the Nalanda Institute has a two-year education program. Even though it’s two years, it’s intense. You can train locally through the Internet or go to real classes in New York or Toronto.
If you’re a student at Naropa, you can receive degrees that focus on Contemplative Psychotherapy. If you’re considering becoming a therapist, it’s worth it to go to Boulder, Colorado, and go to the many courses they have to offer. You can help someone out and then some.
People Who CP Can Help
You may wonder if Contemplative Psychotherapy can help you. As it turns out, there are many reasons why Contemplative Psychotherapy is helpful. Here are some situations that Contemplative Psychotherapy can help.
- Anyone who wants to be more mindful. Mindfulness can help reduce anxiety, stress, increase self-awareness, and improve how we perceive the world.
- People who have bad habits. We all have habits, but some habits can stop our productivity and be costly. By being more mindful, you can try to avoid any cravings for those habits.
- Anyone who has had past trauma. While it’s difficult to “get over” your past abuse, CP helps by accepting the past and opening themselves up for new experiences. Rather than live with the pain, you learn to let it go and find something better for yourself.
- Negative We all experience negative emotions from time to time, but you can heal from them through mindfulness if they plague you. You can discard any self-defeating thoughts and instead work to achieve more motivational thoughts and help you in different ways.
- Cancer or other diseases. CP isn’t a way to treat it, and you shouldn’t replace medical treatment for cancer with CP. However, CP can help eliminate stress and negative emotions that are associated with the disease. This can help increase your chances of survival. Those who are more negative may have weaker immunity and can succumb to cancer.
- To help find your real self. When you are a young adult, you are still exploring everything about yourself, and you may still have trouble figuring out who the real you. CP helps by letting you dive deep into your mind and figuring out which traits are a facade and which aren’t. CP is good for those who want to try new things but are afraid to for whatever reason.
- For general self-improvement. Even if there’s nothing fully wrong with you, CP can help improve yourself in many ways.
Is It Effective?
Since it utilizes many Eastern philosophies, you may wonder how effective the practice is. Despite being decades old, there is little research on this practice. We know that mindfulness can be a powerful tool, along with meditation, so CP’s principles are widely proven to be effective.
Meditation is proven to calm the body, lessen stress and anxiety, and improve your overall mood, along with the many breathing exercises offered by CP. Even though it hasn’t been studied that much, it’s still effective and worth looking at.
Seek Help!
If you want to improve yourself, don’t do it through a self-help book or self-discipline. While those can be effective for some, the best way to heal yourself is through a therapist.
A therapist can help you find the source of your pain. Sometimes, the source is quite obvious, but other times, you may not know what is bothering you. A therapist can help you find the source and take steps to eliminate it, or in the case of CP, let it go. By letting things go, you’ll feel much better about yourself, and you can be able to enjoy more of life.
So look into CP. Even if you feel like it’s not for you, you may be pleasantly surprised, and you can come out learning skills to deal with anything life throws at you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is it good to be contemplative?
According to contemplative psychology research, it is always helpful to reflect on your state of being. Contemplation is a type of mindfulness in which you engage with your thoughts and feelings. This can be immensely helpful for addressing past trauma and overcoming harmful biases. Contemplative psychotherapy harnesses this power for therapeutic purposes. If you are looking to reduce stress and develop an empowered mindset through therapy, contemplative psychotherapy is a good option.
How do I become a psychotherapist?
If you are interested in contemplative psychotherapy as a career, you will need to familiarize yourself with Buddhist principles as you train in modern psychology. Most psychotherapists earn undergraduate degrees in psychology. Some also study sociology, anthropology, or gender studies, depending on their interests. Then, choose a graduate program that aligns with your career goals. Psychotherapists may hold a Ph.D., PsyD, or a Masters in counseling psychology. You can then become licensed to practice. For example, many psychotherapists earn an LCSW degree (Licensed Clinical Social Worker). To make contemplative therapy part of your career, you can receive specialized training at an institute that focuses on this therapy style.
What is a contemplative lifestyle?
By making contemplative practice part of your daily life, you can learn to identify and process both positive and negative thoughts, experiences, and stimuli. People who live a contemplative lifestyle regard each moment and emotion as a transient experience. By adopting the Buddhist principle that everything passes and there is no constant “self,” they can relieve themselves from painful memories and embrace each positive moment fully. A combination of psychology and meditation can help someone be more mindful and release themselves from negative thought patterns.
Is Contemplative a feeling?
It can be. When you engage in contemplative practice, you will likely feel more relaxed, connected, and balanced. Some people also feel inspired or motivated to pursue their goals. A contemplative mood is one in which you feel like exploring your feelings, reliving past events, processing your negative memories, and daydreaming about your future. Many people experience this mode when they are doing something relaxing, such as taking a shower. According to contemplative psychology, this experience leads to brain waves that inspire creativity, calmness, and healing.
What's the difference between contemplation and meditation?
Contemplation is the process of acknowledging and exploring your thoughts and feelings. It is a form of mindfulness. In meditation, however, the goal is to empty your mind as much as possible so that you can escape the problematic thought patterns of your “monkey mind,” as it’s called in modern Buddhism. Your brain is producing alpha waves in a contemplative state, making you feel calm and creative. In contrast, meditation produces theta waves, which are deeply relaxing and allow your body to renew itself and achieve better focus. Both are valuable activities that can promote mental health.
What's the difference between a therapist and a psychotherapist?
A psychotherapist is a type of therapist who encourages patients to explore their feelings and “think out loud.” Through this process, they can un-learn harmful thought patterns and adopt powerful coping strategies. The term “therapist” refers to any health professional who uses modern psychology and/or medication-based treatment techniques. Still, a psychotherapist helps their patients resolve problems by uncovering negative beliefs and ideas.
In contemplative psychology, the therapist focuses on using healthy brain wave activity to boost their self-esteem and release stress from their mind. They create a therapeutic relationship in which the patient can feel safe and empowered.
Contemplative therapy, then, focuses on transforming the mind through dialogue, expression, and self-reflection. A contemplative psychotherapist is primarily a facilitator for this process. Contemporary art, dance, and movement therapies are also types of contemplative psychotherapy.
If you would like to find a therapist specializing in contemplative psychotherapy, find a therapist with links to the form of expression that interests you. If you struggle to find a therapist, find an institute with Eastern and/or art influences, and they can often point you in the right direction.
How long is psychotherapy training?
Depending on your specialty and the types of patients you want to treat, you can expect to be in school and training for about 8-14 years. If you specifically want to move into contemplative psychotherapy, you may also need to train in Eastern medicine and spirituality and movement and meditation techniques. Some contemplative therapists also need to study contemporary art and dance. You will need to learn how to create a therapeutic relationship with dialogue and dynamic feedback, rather than the traditional “couch and armchair” arrangement.
How many years does it take to become a psychotherapist?
A bachelor’s degree typically takes four years, and a Master’s degree takes two to three, depending on the program. You may be able to move into a professional setting at this time or move on to earn a doctorate, which takes about 4–5 years. Sometimes, additional training may be required, especially if you want to move into a specialized field such as contemplative psychotherapy or child psychology. You may need to study contemporary art, movement, and dance as well. To get your license, you often need to train for 1–2 years in a clinical setting so that you can learn how to cultivate a healthy therapeutic relationship with patients.
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