Teaching Clinical Psychology - Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Eastern Thought

Contemporary Psychoanalysis
and Eastern Thought

John R. Suler, Ph.D

State University of New York Press, 1993

Outline of Chapters:

1. Introduction: Chasing Two Rabbits?
how contemporary psychoanalysis (object relations theory, self psychology) compares to Zen and Taoism - defining "psychoanalysis" and "eastern thought" - methods for integrating eastern and western ideas - obstacles to this pursuit - the need for this pursuit

2. East Meets West
the history of how psychoanalysis converged with eastern thought - the selfobject relationships between these eastern and western disciplines - common historical themes concerning psychoanalysis and eastern thought

3. Self and No-Self
the western emphasis on attaining "self" - the eastern emphasis on attaining "no-self" - various models for resolving this apparent disparity between east and west - facets of selfhood and no-self - the interpenetration of self and no-self
4. Paradox
the role of paradox in psychological and spiritual transformations - the Zen koan - paradoxes within the intrapsychic world - the self/other paradox - paradox as pointers - the paradox of the willing self - beyond the realm of paradox

5. Words, Images, Things
the role of representational systems (verbal, imagistic, enactive) in spiritual growth - the limitations of language and concepts - mental imagery as transitional space in spiritual growth - the dynamics of form and formlessness - grasping the ungraspable

6. Meditative Consciousness
the intrapsychic mechanisms and types of meditation - the liabilities and therapeutics of meditation - the clinician's contemplative experience - meditation in life context - the relationships and complementarity between psychotherapy and meditation

7. Students, Teachers, and Their Relationship
strengths and pathology in spiritual students - strengths and pathology in spiritual teachers - crazy wisdom - the psychodynamics of the student/teacher relationship

8. The Therapist as Warrior
comparing psychotherapy to the martial arts - the warrior philosophy - basic martial art concepts applied to psychotherapy - the dynamics of hard and soft techniques - the clinician's and warrior's selfobject connection to a transcendent realm

9. Tai Chi Images: The Tao of Psychotherapy
relating the I Ching imagery system to psychotherapy - the meanings of the yin/yang symbol applied to psychotherapy - the eight trigrams and psychotherapy - Taoist qualities of psychological transformations

10.Vision Quest
the roots of the vision quest practice in eastern spirituality - the vision quest as a model of psychic transformation - the psychodynamics of wandering, signs, and visions

Conclusion: The Future of East Meeting West

The book is available from SUNY Press at: The State University of New York Press, c/o CUP Services, P.O. Box 6525, Ithaca, NY, 14851 (1-800-666-2211)

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