Buddhism has often been thought of as the most psychological of the main religions. The Buddha, a spiritual teacher who lived in India about 2500 years ago, placed considerable emphasis on processes of the mind. His spiritual journey grew out of a struggle with existential questions. Why do we get sick, age and die? Why do we suffer? How can we live a noble life when there is so much to fear? It resulted in insights which are just as relevant and important today as they were in the Buddha’s own time, not least because these fundamental questions have not gone away. Indeed, many of the ideas which emerge from Buddhist psychology are mirrored in the discoveries of modern psychology and neuroscience. 

Buddhist ideas have influenced the development of therapeutic approaches in the West in many ways and in recent years have become popularised in approaches such as mindfulness. At the same time, they are distinct and sometimes very different. Buddhist psychology provides an understanding of the way in which our fears and anxieties lead us to distort our world views, creating psychological shells around ourselves by clinging to particular views, associations and preferences and building a sense of identity and continuity which is often rigid. Whilst this process allows us to function, it tends to limit and restrict us, diminishing our capacity to relate fully with others and with our surroundings. By insulating ourselves from uncomfortable aspects of life, we may trap ourselves in inauthentic relationships, illusory views and a false sense of self. Buddhist practice has focused on bringing awareness to these processes and on discovering a fresh relationship with the world in which we are embedded. 

Other-Centred Approach, developed and used within Tariki Trust, offers a model which is about mindful engagement with others, both in human relationships and in our contact with our surroundings. Together with other Buddhist approaches such as mindfulness, Naikan, Morita Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and others, it emerges from a Buddhist paradigm which complements and, at times, challenges Western therapeutic approaches. Other-Centred Approach particularly focuses on relationship and perception but also draws on other aspects of Buddhist teaching and practice.

Until 2021, Tariki Trust offered a full psychotherapeutic training in Other-Centred Therapy but this came to a close and we are now focusing our training on Ten Directions training in ecotherapy. We do, however, still offer a number of workshops and short courses exploring aspects of Buddhist psychology, other-centred therapies and other Buddhist approaches. Current programmes and workshops in this series can be found by exploring our Buddhist list of events on Eventbrite: follow this link. If Buddhist psychology is an interest for you, please do join our mailing list (at the bottom of this page) so that you receive notifications of future events. Do note also that the Ten Directions training programme in environmentally based therapies is also grounded in Buddhist psychology.