Buddhism on the Couch: From Analysis to Awakening Using Buddhist Psychology

While psychotherapy often emphasizes the building of a strong sense of self, Buddhism on the Couch challenges this approach. Drawing from the core Buddhist concept of non-self, it features specific instruction and includes helpful exercises that show readers the way to transcend the limitations of one's identity. For 2,500 years Buddhism has developed an understanding of how the mind clings to false perceptions and tries to control reality. Buddhism on the Couch combines psychoanalysis with the Buddhist response to these mental misunderstandings. In doing so it turns Buddhism's Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, and Five Skandhas into useful therapeutic tools. Buddhism on the Couch explores the relevance of Buddhist teachings and psychology to everyday experience and shows how letting go of the attachment to self opens people to full engagement with life and with others.