The document provides an overview of Buddhist psychology, which integrates Buddhist mindfulness techniques with psychotherapy. It discusses the roots of Buddhist psychology in the Four Noble Truths and the path of right mindfulness and behavior modification. Key aspects covered include types of meditation, benefits for mental health like reducing stress and treating depression, and applications to issues like narcissism, addiction recovery, and eating disorders. Ongoing research is exploring uses for treating medical issues like AIDS as well.

1. What is Buddhist Psychology?
 The integration of Buddhist mind techniques with
clinical psychotherapy
 Research shows that certain techniques,
meditation especially, have great benefits on
mental health
 It’s not about adopting religious beliefs, just
different ways of thinking

2. What are the roots of Buddhist
Psychology?
 The Buddha started out with the Four Noble Truths:
– Suffering is a part of life
– There are causes of that suffering
– That suffering can stop
– There’s a specific path to make it stop
The Dalai Lama

3. So what’s the path?
 Being very aware of and careful
with your life, such as your
emotions, your intentions, and
your actions
 It’s accomplished through things
like meditation, and modifying
your behavior

4. Meditation
 Two types
– Samatha, or Tranquility Meditation
– Vipassana, or Insight Meditation
 Goal is to attain a certain level of focus and then aim it at all
sensory and mental processes
 Once you can observe your sensory and mental processes, you
can dissect them to see if they’re beneficial or harmful, and you
can detach the process from the emotion it’s wrapped in
 Also known as “mindfulness”

5. Benefits of Meditation
 May “lead to a greater ability to concentrate, greater freedom
from distraction, greater tolerance of change and turmoil around
oneself, and sharper awareness..”
 Reduction in oxygen consumption, decreased breathing rate and
blood pressure, decreased arousal in sympathetic nervous
system (de Silva, 1990)
 Found to be effective in treating depression (Smith 2006) and
chronic pain (Kabat-Zinn 1982)
 Also used in treating anxiety disorders and phobia (Rosch 2008)
 Conflicting data between studies indicates the need for more
research (Toneatto 2007)

6. Meditation and Compassion
 If you play a sound that will evoke an emotional
response while experienced meditators are meditating,
it will evoke a much greater response than if the sound
is played while they’re just resting, or in either case
with inexperienced people (Lutz 2007)

7. Behavior Modification
 Some principles used by psychologist Albert Ellis to
create Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, a
precursor to Cognitive Behavior Therapy
(Christopher 2003)
– Individual actions can have a global result
(interconnectedness)
– Being human means you’re fallible (egolessness)
– Avoidance of extremes (the middle path)
– Self-awareness (mindfulness)

8. Modifying Narcissism
 Narcissistic personality disorder is defined as “a
pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for
admiration, and a lack of empathy” (APA 2000)
 With its emphasis on egolessness and
interconnectedness, Jennings (2007) shows
Buddhism may be beneficial in treating it, but there
is also a risk of extreme negative reaction

9. Other Applications
 Non-theistic alternative to twelve-step addiction
recovery programs
– For some people, the idea of god is a stumbling block to
sobriety, but there are no gods in Buddhism
 Eating Disorders
– Promoting mindfulness of eating habits, and helping one to
remove the emotional connection they have with food, or
their self-image
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
– Mindfulness of one’s OCD habits, mannerism, and anxieties
and an increasing ability to break away from them

10. Ongoing Research and Education
 Research has shown that meditation can
slow the progression of the AIDS virus and
improve quality of life for AIDS patients
(Creswell 2008)
 The University of California at Berkeley now
has a semester-long course on Buddhist
Psychology

11. Additional Resources
 Local Meditation Centers/Retreats:
– Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA
 http://dharma.org/ims/
– Kripalu Institute, Lenox, MA
 http://www.kripalu.org/
 Websites:
– UC Berkeley Lectures on Buddhist Psychology
 http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details_new.php?
seriesid=2008-D-74171&semesterid=2008-D
– Meditation Instructions
 http://buddhism.kalachakranet.org/meditation_practice.html