I decided I needed a Buddhist therapist.

It was 1987. I was struggling in a relationship while finishing up graduate school and just had spent three days in bed.  "Isn't this a sign of depression?" I asked myself.

At that time in my life, I had been actively involved in Buddhist meditation and decided that I was if I was going to get any sort of psychological help it needed to be consistent with my practice. Any therapist I might find needed to be somewhat like-minded.  I didn't know if there even was such a thing as a Buddhist therapist, someone who brought a meditative approach to their work.

But I did know a fellow Vipassana meditator who was also a psychologist, named Paul Fleishman. He was 500 miles away, but I gave him a call.

"Not only are there a few Buddhist therapists," Paul said, "but one of the best I know lives down the street from you."

I have no way of knowing if having a Buddhist therapist for those next couple of years was better or worse than seeing someone who had no knowledge of Buddhism or meditation.  Since I didn't have an identical twin or triplet, who was engaged in the other process, there was no "control" to compare to. Nor do I think that the ideas that underlie therapy from a Buddhist perspective are unique to Buddhism and Buddhist therapists.

For example, a willingness to observe what ever arises, without judgment or opinion — in the same way that one observes the various thoughts that arise during meditation — or the idea that human beings are fundamentally okay.  These are not unique "Buddhist therapy" ideas.

In fact, that many of these same ideas are found in non-Buddhist therapy or were similarly described by doctors and therapists and psychiatrists and psychologists who were not familiar with Buddhism, is one of the reasons that the investigation of the overlap between Buddhism and therapy has been so juicy

Times have changed quite a bit in the last 20+ years.  I live in a town that has a school that not only produces dozens of Buddhist therapist every year but has different flavors of Buddhist and Buddhist inspired therapy — including body-centered, contemplative, and transpersonal therapy.

I'm not sure that Buddhist practices and meditation were ever designed to serve the same purpose as psychological work.  But I do look forward to seeing how the interaction of the two continues to evolve.

Next Post: Doing a Vipassana meditation retreat

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