Trauma - a Realistic Perspective

     "A critical component of ... the [Buddha's] Noble Eightfold Path ... counseled that trauma, in any of its forms, is not a failure or a mistake. It is not something to be ashamed of, not a sign of weakness, and not a reflection of inner failure. It is simply a fact of life. 
     This attitude toward trauma is at the heart of the Buddha's teaching, although it is often overlooked in the rush to embrace the inner peace that his teachings also promised. But inner peace is actually predicated upon a realistic approach to the uncertainties and fears that pervade our lives."

       Mark Epstein. "The Trauma of Everyday Life." Penguin Press, NY, 2013.

 

Psychotherapy & Buddhism

     “It is through the mindfulness practices that Buddhism most clearly complements psychotherapy. The shift from an appetite based, spatially conceived self preoccupied with a sense of what is lacking to a breath based, temporally conceived self capable of spontaneity and aliveness is, of course, one that psychotherapy has also come to envision.”

        Epstein M. "Thoughts Without a Thinker. Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective." BasicBooks, NY. 1995. 

Erez Marom   www.dpreview.com