Online Zoom Forum: Buddhism and Psychotherapy: Towards Healing and Psychological Well-being.
Date: Wednesday 5 February 2025.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Description:
Format: There will be up to five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Dr Christine Kupfer:
Bio: Christine Kupfer is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education at Aberdeen University, where she leads on the Pluralistic Counselling Doctorate and is teaching and researching topics such as pluralistic therapy, culture, social theory, and spirituality. Her academic background includes degrees (MSc, PhD) in counselling, social and medical anthropology, education sciences, and psychology. Before joining Aberdeen University, Christine taught and conducted research at Abertay University, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh University, and Heidelberg University. Her research and publications are diverse, addressing topics such as pluralistic therapy, working therapeutically with spiritually transformative experiences, the dark side of meditation, children’s mental health in India, Ayurveda patients’ conceptualizations of health and healing, and the philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore. This includes a book on Tagore’s humanistic approach to self-actualization. Christine is the co-editor of the journal Pluralistic Practice and previously served as the editor of Gitanjali and Beyond. As a practicing pluralistic therapist registered with BACP, she is passionate about exploring how therapy can address complex issues, including spiritual crises and socio-political topics.
Speakers:
Dharmavidya David Brazier:
Title: Buddhist Psychology: the Dharma that heals.
Description: Introductory remarks upon the application of Buddhist models of the mind and mental functioning as psychotherapy and as an aid to harmonious relations in everyday life.
Bio: Dr. David Brazier, Buddhist teacher, psychotherapist, published poet, author/editor of many works including fifteen published books - The Oxford Handbook of Meditation, Zen Therapy, The Dark Side of the Mirror, etc.
An authority on Buddhist psychology, Zen, Pure Land and the history of Buddhism.
Formerly initiator of projects for healing after social breakdown in Bosnia, India & elsewhere.
Dr Jeffrey B. Rubin:
Title: Meditative Psychoanalysis.
Description: My own experiences over four decades with meditation and psychoanalysis have led me to create what I call meditative psychoanalysis, which blends the best aspects of Western psychoanalysis and Eastern meditative traditions into a more encompassing synthesis. In meditative analysis, we first use meditation and yogic breathing to quiet and focus the mind, and then explore and translate the meaning of what we have discovered using psychoanalytic understandings of symbolic and unconscious communication. Psychoanalytic attention to hidden meaning and understanding—the second facet of meditative psychoanalysis—expands the focus and equanimity that meditation fosters. The third and final aspect of meditative psychoanalysis is a special relationship (and environment) designed to illuminate and transform one’s history. Psychoanalysis not only elucidates the interpersonal roots of adult afflictions, it offers a relationship and experience that is a vehicle for transformation in the present. In tandem with meditation, the therapeutic relationship—seen in a freer and more empathic light—becomes a crucible in which recurrent patterns of restrictively seeing and organizing one’s life can be witnessed and ultimately transformed, so that new and liberating kinds of human connections can occur.
After considering the way meditation cultivates heightened attentiveness, refines sensory clarity, lessens self-criticism, and increases tolerance of feelings, thereby deepening psychoanalytic listening, I’ll examine how psychoanalytic perspectives on unconscious meaning illuminate and transform the nearsightedness of meditation, aiding therapists and clients in understanding troubling thoughts, feelings, and behavior and deepening the therapeutic process.
I’ll also illuminate how the therapeutic relationship at its best serves as the vehicle for validating a person’s experience and providing opportunities for new forms of relatedness and self-transformation. The therapeutic relationship is then a crucible in which old and dysfunctional ways of caring for oneself and relating to other people emerge and new patterns of self-care and intimacy can be established. I’ll illustrate my theoretical reflections with examples from my practice, which make the concepts more accessible and give the reader a felt sense of the perspective I am presenting. Writings on psychotherapy and Buddhism often lack illustrative material, which is crucial for testing theoretical assumptions and refining the dialogue between them. And then I’ll illuminate how we can practice meditative psychotherapy.
Bio: Dr Jeffrey B. Rubin, PhD is a psychoanalytically-oriented therapist in private practice in New York who works with children, adolescents, adults, and couples, and a Sensei in the Nyogen Senzaki and Soen Nakagawa Zen tradition. He is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on the integration of meditation and psychotherapy. He is the author of eight books on the integration of Eastern and Western approaches to flourishing and self-transformation, including the forthcoming Psychotherapy Case Studies: Escaping the Prison You Didn’t Know You Were In and Meditative Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis: Pathways to Healing and Freedom. Dr. Rubin has taught at various universities, psychoanalytic institutes and meditation, yoga and growth and wellness centers including the United Nations, Union Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University, The Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, The C. G. Jung Foundation of New York, The American Institute for Psychoanalysis, Esalen Institute, and New York Insight. His pioneering approach to therapy and zen was featured in the New York Times magazine: https: //www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/magazine/26zen-t.html. He can be reached at drjeffreyrubin.com or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Mo Bankey:
Title: Connecting with Brilliant Sanity: foundations of a Contemplative Approach to Psychotherapy and Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Description: This talk will focus on how a view of Brilliant Sanity impacts the therapist, client, and the relationship between therapist and client. Mo will also discuss how integrating a Brilliant Sanity approach to psychotherapy can be particularly helpful in supporting marginalized client populations.
Bio: Mo Bankey MA, LPC (they/them) is Assistant Professor, Clinical Supervisor, Maitri Retreat Director, and co-chair of the Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Buddhism-informed Contemplative Counseling concentration (formerly Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology) at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. Mo has been studying and practicing the Buddhadharma for over 25 years, and continues to study in the Karma Kagyu and Yuthok Nyingthik lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism. They have been offering meditation instruction to diverse populations for the last ten years, and Mo is deeply trained in and leads Naropa University retreats in the Maitri Space Awareness practice developed Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and Suzuki Roshi. Mo is committed to the intersections of practice, Buddhist psychology, multicultural counselor education, and social justice. Mo has completed additional doctoral studies in Human Sexuality at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Colorado with a private therapy practice focused on somatic trauma work, relationship counseling, grief, chronic illness, and supporting LGBTQ populations.
Rob Preece:
Title: Compassionate Presence.
Description: Perhaps the most precious gift we can give another is Compassionate presence. This is also the most beneficial way to be with our inner process.
Bio: Rob Preece, author of The Wisdom of Imperfection and The Psychology of Buddhist Tantra and Tasting the Essence of Tantra, has been a practicing Tibetan Buddhist since 1973. He spent 5 years in intensive retreat in the Himalayas guided by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche. He has been a psychotherapist since 1987, and today focuses on spiritual mentoring. He leads meditation retreats integrating Buddhism and Western psychology in Europe and the US. He is a thangka painter, a keen gardener and lives with his wife Anna and two sons in Devon, UK.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
NB: you must also email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so we can send you the Zoom sign-in details.
Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
Some international transfers also ask for an IBAN number:
The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
BIC:
BOFSGB21168