ABSTRACT

Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers mental health professionals of all disciplines and orientations the most comprehensive and rigorous introduction to the art of integrating contemplative psychology, ethics, and practices, including mindfulness, compassion, and embodiment techniques. It brings together clinicians, scholars, and thought leaders of unprecedented caliber, featuring some of the most eminent pioneers in the rapidly growing field of contemplative psychotherapy.

The new edition offers an expanded array of effective contemplative interventions, contemplative psychotherapies, and contemplative approaches to clinical practice. New chapters discuss how contemplative work can effect positive psychosocial change at the personal, interpersonal, and collective levels to address racial, gender, and other forms of systemic oppression. The new edition also explores the cross-cultural nuances in the integration of Buddhist psychology and healing practices by Western researchers and clinicians and includes the voices of leading Tibetan doctors.

Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers a profound and synoptic overview of one of psychotherapy’s most intriguing and promising fields.

Part 1: Mindfulness and Personal Healing  1. Contemplative Practices for Assessing and Eliminating Racism in Psychotherapy: Towards Dynamic Inclusive Excellence  2. Buddhist Origins of Mindfulness Meditation  3. The Buddha, MLK, and the Ethics of Healing Community  4. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Practicing Presence and Resilience  5. Positive Neuroplasticity: The Neuroscience of Mindfulness  6. Mindfulness Practice as Advanced Training for the Clinician  7. Meditation, Wisdom, and Compassion in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy  8. Toward an LGBTQ+ Affirmative Approach to Contemplative Psychotherapy  Part 2: Compassion and Social Healing  9.Traditional Buddhist Perspectives on Modern Compassion Trainings and A Proposal for An Integrated Relational Emotional-Analytical Framework  10. Compassion Practice, Social Justice, and Collective Liberation  11. The Supreme Medicine of Exchanging Self-Enclosure for Altruism  12. Interpersonal Connection, Compassion, and Well-Being: The Science and Art of Healing Relationships  13. Compassion in Psychotherapy  14. The RAIN of Self-Compassion: A Simple Practice for Clients and Clinicians  15. Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT) —A Contemplative Intervention For Self-Regulation and Cultivating Loving Intimate Relationships  Part 3: Embodiment and Natural Healing  16. Tantra, Imagery, and Integral Dynamic Therapy  17. Skill, Stamina, (Noticing Avoidance) & Embodied Connectedness: Realizing Our Vows to Be of Service  18. The Essence of Tantric Medicine: Embodied Healing in the Yuthog Nying-Thig Tradition  19. Imagery and Trauma: The Psyche's Push for Healing  20. Embodied Practice, the Smart Vagus, and Mind-Brain-Body-World Integration  21. How to Be a Transformational Therapist: AEDP Harnesses Innate Healing Affects to Rewire Experience and Accelerate Transformation  22. From Trauma to Transformation: Accelerating Resilience, Recovery, and Integration Through Embodied Transformational Therapy