Psychology & Buddhism.pdf

Introduction 5
Part II: Healing and Psychotherapy: Alternatives in Psychotherapy
Rita Dudley-Grant, in “Buddhism, Psychology, and Addiction Theory in
Psychotherapy,” provides us with a clear and substantive exposition on the application
of Buddhist principles to the extraordinary challenge of responding to the
epidemic of substance abuse that has torn Western civilization apart over the past
half century. She initially reviews how the two disciplines of psychology and
Buddhism can be seen to have shared goals in seeking to provide a path for optimal
living. Both psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral commonalities with
Buddhist theories and practices are reviewed. Conceptions of the self, selfcontrol,
and addiction theory are presented for their Buddhist and psychological
links. In presenting her theories on addiction, Dudley-Grant describes Buddhist
conceptualizations of addiction from Tibetan and Nichiren perspectives. She then
analyzes the apparent dichotomy of the 12-step program and Buddhist
philosophy. The Alcoholics Anonymous approach to recovery has deep roots in
Judeo-Christian beliefs of a “higher power greater than ourselves.” Dudley-Grant
suggests that the Buddhist commitment to community can allow Buddhists struggling
with addiction to benefit from this highly successful approach to recovery.
She suggests that the greatest commonality and healing comes from the commitment
to community, to other rather than self, beliefs held in both Christian and
Buddhist faiths.
Polly Young Eisendrath, in “Suffering from Biobabble: Searching for a Science
of Objectivity,” addresses the relative poverty of Western’s psychology’s
attempts to address and come to terms with dukkha (suffering), the ever-present
problem of human suffering. She finds the problem to be embedded within
Western science’s dedication to an epistemology that is better used to describe the
motions of planets than the dilemmas of living beings. Can Buddhism help us to
more fully develop and articulate a genuine science of human experience? Young-
Eisendrath argues that it can because Buddhism does not impose a rigid
Cartesian dualism on the human condition. She envisions a unique and powerful
human science that will inform human services so that it can respond compassionately
and comprehensively to the realities of wide spread human suffering.
Moreover, Young-Eisendrath presents a cogent argument for similarities between
psychodynamic formulations of the psychic compulsions that lead to repetitive
dysfunctional behavior and the Buddhist conceptualizations of karma. She challenges
the increasing tendency to relinquish responsibility for one’s behavior
attributing it to genetic maladaptation or biological determinism. Rather
she suggests that analysis and Buddhist practice can be equally empowering.
They hold people accountable for their actions, thus providing the possibility for
change. She strongly suggests the use of Buddhist and clinical psychological
methods of research to study the ultimate impact and efficacy of these two great
traditions.