Contemplative Psychotherapy

Contemplative Psychotherapies My thoughts and feelings about contemplative psychology are somewhat conflicted. On the one hand, there are several tenets with this particular approach to psychology that I think are valid. However, I am not sure that many of them have a place in true psychology. Psychology is a science and a discipline -- it is based on empirical evidence and fact. Many of the Eastern philosophical concepts that are incorporated into contemplative psychology are not based on empirical evidence or fact.

Therefore, my view on this particular aspect of psychology remains conflicted (if not outright contradictory) -- I see some boons of this methodology, yet am not sure that I could validate them from a purely scientific perspective. From a personal standpoint, there are numerous aspects of contemplative psychology that I intuitively can relate to and which I utilize as focal points for my own life.

One of the central concepts associated with eastern religion and thought -- of which meditation, contemplation, and perhaps even rumination play a distinct part in -- is a preoccupation with the self and an intimate understanding of oneself. This sort of conception is something that I have intrinsically thought about. However, to utilize it to one's advantage in a psychological context or in any other context, one must be attuned to oneself and become fully aware of one's own thoughts and feelings.

Additionally, it is imperative to understand why one is having the thoughts and feelings that one is experiencing. These ideas are valid from a philosophical standpoint. And personally, they factor heavily into my daily approach with life. Still, I am not too sure how pragmatic it is to attempt to induce these notions and this focus of awareness into others.

There does not necessarily appear to be a quantifiable way of measuring it, although one might argue that of all scientific disciplines, psychology may be the realm where scientific thought must depend on faith and where the known world of science and the unknown world of the mind collide. I also have mixed feelings about the fact that the focus of contemplative psychotherapy is one's internal processes and thoughts.

In many ways, psychology that utilizes purely Western techniques is about understanding external factors -- the environment -- and their impact upon the individual. Although on some fundamental level contemplative psychology addresses this issue is well, it is more focused on removing the internal barriers that one has set in place in order to better comprehend one's own self and one's emotions. Granted, the fact that contemplative psychology is a hybrid of eastern and western thought helps to balance out these two somewhat different approaches.

Still, it seems that it would be difficult to get someone who was uninitiated with eastern thought to truly understand the process of removing internal barriers and having greater access into that person's fundamental, core self. Quite frankly, I am not sure how practical it would be to utilize this approach in clinical settings. Much of western society is purposefully designed to keep the individual preoccupied with his or her surroundings and environmental factors. The current preoccupation with technology is certainly evidence of this reality.

However counterintuitive contemplative psychology might be to the patient, there is a degree of necessity that will facilitate a willingness for patients to try anything to ease their problems. In circumstances in which there is someone who is suffering from some sort of cognitive affliction, and he or she is not able to gain sufficient help using conventional western methodologies, such a person might be willing to undergo an initiation of sorts to actualize some of the important principles of eastern thought that are at the core of contemplative psychology.

Thus, it appears as though it might be possible to utilize contemplative psychotherapies as a potential personal theoretical orientation as a future clinician. Ultimately, how this approach were utilized would largely depend on the needs of the patients. Some patients would not have a true need for this approach since conventional western psychotherapy would work. On the other hand, those who were already familiar with eastern philosophy and whose needs could not be assuaged by typically western psychotherapy conventions might find some value in contemplative psychotherapy.

The main point that a clinician would have to stay cognizant of would be to not force this approach on people. For those.