About the Book
Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers mental health professionals of all disciplines and orientations the most comprehensive and rigorous introduction to the art of integrating contemplative psychology, ethics, and practices, including mindfulness, compassion, and embodiment techniques. It brings together clinicians, scholars, and thought leaders of unprecedented caliber, featuring some of the most eminent pioneers in the rapidly growing field of contemplative psychotherapy.
The new edition offers an expanded array of effective contemplative interventions, contemplative psychotherapies, and contemplative approaches to clinical practice. New chapters discuss how contemplative work can effect positive psychosocial change at the personal, interpersonal, and collective levels to address racial, gender, and other forms of systemic oppression. The new edition also explores the cross-cultural nuances in the integration of Buddhist psychology and healing practices by Western researchers and clinicians and includes the voices of leading Tibetan doctors.
Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers a profound and synoptic overview of one of psychotherapy’s most intriguing and promising fields.
Table of Contents:
Part 1: Mindfulness and Personal Healing 1. Contemplative Practices for Assessing and Eliminating Racism in Psychotherapy: Towards Dynamic Inclusive Excellence 2. Buddhist Origins of Mindfulness Meditation 3. The Buddha, MLK, and the Ethics of Healing Community 4. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Practicing Presence and Resilience 5. Positive Neuroplasticity: The Neuroscience of Mindfulness 6. Mindfulness Practice as Advanced Training for the Clinician 7. Meditation, Wisdom, and Compassion in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy 8. Toward an LGBTQ+ Affirmative Approach to Contemplative Psychotherapy Part 2: Compassion and Social Healing 9.Traditional Buddhist Perspectives on Modern Compassion Trainings and a Proposal for an Integrated Relational Emotional-Analytical Framework 10. Compassion Practice, Social Justice, and Collective Liberation 11. The Supreme Medicine of Exchanging Self-Enclosure for Altruism 12. Interpersonal Connection, Compassion, and Well-Being: The Science and Art of Healing Relationships 13. Compassion in Psychotherapy 14. The RAIN of Self-Compassion: A Simple Practice for Clients and Clinicians 15. Compassion-Based Resilience Training (CBRT): A Contemplative Therapeutic Intervention For Self-Regulation and Cultivating Loving Intimate Relationships Part 3: Embodiment and Natural Healing 16. Tantra, Imagery, and Integral Dynamic Therapy 17. Skill, Stamina, (Noticing Avoidance) & Embodied Connectedness: Realizing Our Vows to Be of Service 18. The Essence of Tantric Medicine: Embodied Healing in the Yuthog Nyingthig Tradition 19. Imagery and Trauma: The Psyche's Push for Healing 20. Embodied Practice, the Smart Vagus, and Mind-Brain-Body-World Integration 21. How to Be a Transformational Therapist: AEDP Harnesses Innate Healing Affects to Rewire Experience and Accelerate Transformation 22. From Trauma to Transformation: Accelerating Resilience, Recovery, and Integration Through Embodied Transformational Therapy
About the Author :
Joseph Loizzo, MD, PhD, is a contemplative psychotherapist, Buddhist scholar, and author with over four decades’ experience integrating Indo-Tibetan mind science and healing arts into modern neuropsychology, psychotherapy, and clinical research. He is the founder and academic director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, the developer of its Contemplative Psychotherapy Program, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and a clinician in private practice in Manhattan.
Fiona Brandon, MPS, MA, MFT, is a psychotherapist, contemplative educator, group facilitator, and the director of the Nalanda Institute’s Compassion-Based Resilience Training and Embodied Contemplative Psychotherapy programs. For more than 15 years she has integrated Buddhist psychology, depth psychology, and meditation into her clinical work with adults and couples in her private practice in San Francisco.
Emily J. Wolf, PhD, MSEd, is the founder and director of Contemplative Psychology PC, where she provides psychotherapy, clinical supervision, and training for mental health providers. She has conducted groundbreaking research on the integration of contemplative methods of Indian yoga and meditation into Western psychodynamic therapy, recovery, and health education and is a former director and co-developer of the Nalanda Institute’s Contemplative Psychotherapy program. She is also an adjunct clinical instructor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Miles Neale, PsyD, is a Buddhist psychotherapist in private practice, founder of the Contemplative Studies Program, and clinical instructor of psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has more than 20 years of experience integrating Tibetan Buddhism and psychology, is the author of Return with Elixir (2023) and Gradual Awakening (2018) and leads Buddhist pilgrimages throughout Asia.
Review :
"In this important volume, the authors have succeeded in deepening the current mutual embrace between psychotherapy and meditative practice. Written with clarity and featuring leading minds in both domains, this book signals the emergence of a new, theory-linked contemplative psychotherapy that crosses schools and boundaries in its pursuit of real clinical deliverables."
Zindel Segal, PhD, distinguished professor of psychology in mood disorders, University of Toronto Scarborough
"Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy offers the most comprehensive and authoritative overview of one of the hottest cutting edges in psychotherapy today—its merger with contemplative practice. A must have for anyone in this field."
Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ and coauthor of Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Transforms Mind, Brain, and Body
"While the goals of psychotherapy and contemplative practise share some important commonalities—the relief of suffering—until this volume, there was no compendium bringing these modalities together. Joe Loizzo and his colleagues have done a remarkable job in surveying this vast landscape. A must read for any clinician or provider wishing to incorporate contemplative practice into therapy."
Richard Davidson, author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain, founder, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"With business leaders, healthcare providers, educators, and celebrity influencers all touting the benefits of mindfulness and other forms of contemplative practice, it is becoming increasingly difficult to sift through the data and the hype, the science and the sales pitch. This updated edition of Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy provides an illuminating tour of this burgeoning field, guided by an impressive and diverse roster of researchers, clinicians, and spiritual teachers. This insightful book examines the promise and the practical challenges of applying contemplative practices to the personal, clinical, and social problems we all face today."
Doris F. Chang, PhD, clinical psychologist and associate professor, NYU Silver School of Social Work, and co-editor of Transformative Careers in Mental Health for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color: Strategies to Promote Healing and Social Change in Academia, Clinical Settings, and Beyond
