Buddhist Psychotherapy is a trauma-informed, experiential, and body–mind-oriented approach to psychotherapy informed by Buddhist psychology, contemplative practice, and contemporary evidence-based therapies.

Despite its name, Buddhist Psychotherapy is not religious counselling and does not require any particular spiritual belief. Similar to mindfulness, which also has roots in Buddhist traditions, its principles can be applied within a modern therapeutic context to support psychological wellbeing and emotional healing.

At Wisdom Psychotherapy, Buddhist Psychotherapy serves as a framework for integrating contemporary approaches such as EMDR, Brainspotting, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), mindfulness, somatic psychotherapy, and IFS/parts work. The emphasis is not on adopting beliefs, but on cultivating awareness, compassion, and a deeper understanding of our relationship with ourselves and our experiences.

Key Principles of Buddhist Psychotherapy

Inner Wisdom

Buddhist Psychology suggests that people possess innate capacities for awareness, compassion, resilience, and insight. Therapy can help individuals reconnect with these inner resources, particularly during times of distress, uncertainty, or emotional suffering.

Relationship with Self

Many people experience ongoing self-criticism, shame, or internal conflict. Buddhist Psychotherapy encourages the development of a more compassionate and accepting relationship with oneself, supporting greater emotional stability and wellbeing.

Attachment and Connection

Healthy relationships with ourselves and others play an important role in emotional regulation and psychological health. Difficult life experiences can disrupt these connections, while therapy can support the development of greater safety, trust, and relational balance.

Mind and Body as a Unified System

Rather than viewing the mind and body as separate, Buddhist Psychotherapy recognises the close relationship between thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and nervous system responses. This perspective aligns closely with contemporary trauma-informed and somatic approaches to healing.

Awareness and Direct Experience

Healing often involves more than intellectual understanding alone. Through increased awareness of thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and lived experience, people can develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the patterns that shape their lives.

Integrating Eastern and Western Approaches

At Wisdom Psychotherapy, Buddhist Psychotherapy provides a contemplative and compassion-oriented framework for integrating evidence-based therapeutic approaches. This allows therapy to address emotional suffering while supporting greater awareness, self-understanding, emotional integration, and psychological wellbeing.

The goal is not to become someone different, but to reconnect with aspects of ourselves that may have become hidden beneath stress, trauma, self-protection, or difficult life experiences.

Wisdom Psychotherapy sees emotions as the vehicles that connect body and mind.  Our emotional states are often reactions to our external environment.

For example, you are walking across a paddock, and you see a bull emerging over the hill.  How would you react? – Your initial reaction might be to freeze.  Then, your ‘fear’ may take over and make you run as fast as you can to the nearest fence without a second thought.  Right?

According to research, there are seven so-called ‘primary’ emotions.  Many of them are not positive, and they often seem daunting to experience.  Just like ‘fear’ tries to protect us from life-threatening situations, all emotions help to guide us.

• Joy tells us to join in, share, and take part

• Sadness tells us to withdraw, be more still to save our energy

• Anger tells us to stand up for ourselves - fight or attack

• Fear tells us to flee towards safety

• Guilt tells us not to repeat what we have done and to repair the damage caused

• Disgust tells us to keep our distance for protection

• Surprise tells us to be amazed

Emotions enable us to react to the situations we face.  Some emotions generate energy in our body, and some make us slow down to conserve energy.  Emotions also connect us socially and help us communicate better.

But then, why do we fear or avoid emotions?

• The way we express our emotions is often shaped by our culture, society and family environments.  For instance, childhood abuse often makes it difficult to connect with anger, because expressing anger towards our abuser may have provoked further abuse. 

• Another example is cultural sayings such as “Boys don’t cry”, which make men shut down their connection to emotions.

• We all have painful and traumatic memories from childhood and life events.  All these memories have attached emotions.  Memories of emotional reactions are often negative and make emotions feel more painful and scary.

When we avoid connecting to a primary emotion, we often need to attach to a secondary emotion such as frustration and jealousy.  I have met many people suffering from anger, but on further exploration, there were other emotions, such as fear or sadness, underlying this anger.  When we suppress or avoid emotions, we may experience adverse effects physically, mentally or socially.

How can we live better in harmony with our emotions? 

• Connect with a true primary emotion rather than a secondary or disguising emotion.

• Express emotions and accompanying memories using creative outlets, such as writing, artwork, or music.

• Movement can release stuck emotions from the body.  Running, dancing, Qigong and Yoga are effective strategies for this

Focusing on emotions is often an effective way to work with mental and physical suffering, such as depression, anxiety, trauma-related stress or chronic physical conditions.

Wisdom Psychotherapy helps process traumatic memories, which can be fragmented, using body-mind processing approaches, such as mindfulness, EMDR, Brainspotting, clinical hypnosis, process-experiential therapy and body movement.

“Looking into my bowl of rice, I see clearly that this food is the gift of the earth and the sky. I see the rice field, the vegetable farmer, the sunshine, rain, manure, and the hard work of the farmer.”

This is the writing of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and reminds me of my early childhood in Japan. 

I was taught to be grateful when eating rice and not to waste even a single grain as it would be disrespectful to the farmer. 

This rather strict teaching embodies the concept of gratitude.  As a small child, it developed in me a sense of connectedness to the wider community and Mother Nature.

According to studies, the benefits of gratitude include:

• Increased sense of both physical and mental well-being

• Enhanced resilience when coping with adversity

• Improved sleep quality

• Strengthening of our compassionate mind

How can we cultivate gratitude?  - Apart from writing a gratitude journal, gratitude letter, or meditating on gratitude, we can also practise Naikan. 

Naikan is a reflective practice developed by a Japanese Buddhist businessman in the 1940s.  Since then, it has been used as a Buddhist-informed cognitive therapy in Japan and Europe.

Naikan means ‘looking within’ in Japanese and involves asking these three seemingly simple questions:

1.     What have I received from ___________ ?

2.     What have I given to __________ ?

3.     What troubles and difficulties have I caused __________ ?

You can do Naikan reflective practice on any relationship, including family members, friends, co-workers, pets, any objects you own or even behavioural issues.  You can focus on an individual relationship over a specific time frame.

Another way to do Naikan practice is to focus on the past 24 hours. You can reflect, perhaps before going to bed, on how you were supported or helped by others during the day. 

For instance, someone might have given you a beautiful smile or opened a door for you as you went through your day.

When contemplating what you have given, you can also reflect on who or what facilitated your actions or labours during the day.  

As an example, in the course of your work, be mindful of the supporting actions of others, such as the train driver who gets you to work on time or the cleaner who cleans your office.

In everyday life, we experience frustration or annoyance at the inconsiderate actions of others.  The third question challenges us to consider if we might have acted similarly without noticing.  For example, talking on a mobile phone in a public space.

Naikan practice helps us realise how we have been supported and cared for.  It also challenges our tendency towards feelings of entitlement.  One of the main aims of Naikan is to help us see ourselves more objectively in the wider context of the world we live in. 

What is your ACE score? – No, I am not talking a card game.

ACE is an acronym for ‘Adverse Childhood Experience.’  You would get a higher ACE score if you were exposed to developmental trauma when growing up as a child, such as:

1.     Experienced recurrent emotional abuse.

2.     Physical abuse.

3.     Sexual abuse.

4.     Have experienced physical neglect.

5.     Emotional neglect.

6.     Someone in your childhood home had substance abuse issues.

7.     Someone struggled with mental illness.

8.     Someone participated in criminal behaviour or went to jail?

9.     Mother treated you violently.

10.  Your parents divorced or separated.

How many of the traumas listed above did you experience in your childhood? 

Based on extensive studies in the U.S., the higher your ACE score, the greater your risk for:

• chronic physical and mental health conditions

• addictive behaviours

• violent behaviour

• being a victim of violence; suicide

• marriage break-down and

• workplace absenteeism

Childhood trauma can affect many areas of our lives, including physical health, mental health, economic health and social health.

Someone with an ACE score of 4 is more at risk of the conditions listed as below when compared with someone with an ACE score of 0:

• Cancer 200% (Greater risk)

• Heart disease 200%

• Emphysema/Chronic bronchitis 400%

• Depression 460%

• Alcohol addiction 700%

• Attempt suicide 1200%

The existing research also suggests that people with an ACE score of 6 or higher are at risk of a 20-year reduction in lifespan. 

Experiencing trauma or having adverse experiences in childhood changes the way your body deals with stress.  According to research, these physiological changes, resulting from unresolved PTSD, are related to many physical conditions.

Trauma does not have to be the result of a life-or-death experience.  We experience big and small traumas in our day-to-day lives.  When coping with chronic physical health conditions, it may be worthwhile to consider if exploring past traumatic experiences can help you heal and improve your quality of life.

Most of us live with an inner critic. 

• They are often brutal, judgmental, and not-at-all compassionate. 

• They make us feel small, bad, incompetent, useless, and unworthy. 

• Their harsh criticism often produces depression, anxiety, chronic health issues or lower our opinion about ourselves. 

• We often procrastinate or engage in addictive behaviour to avoid them. 

• We sometimes become paralysed because our inner defence and inner critic are locked in battle with each other.

According to Jay Ealey and Bonnie Wise, the authors of ‘Freedom from your inner critic – A Self-Therapy Approach’, there are seven types of inner critics:

• Perfectionist:  They make sure you do everything perfectly.

• Moulder:  They tell you how you should be, how to look, how to think, and how to do things.

• Guilt Tripper:  They make you feel bad about what you have done and who you are.

• Underminer:  They prevent you from trying new things or following your dreams.

• Taskmaster:  They push you to work hard and are never satisfied with what you have done.

• Controller:  They make you feel bad about what you eat or drink, or how your body looks.

• Destroyer:  They make you feel as if you don’t have the right to exist.

How can we deal with these cruel inner critics when they are causing severe mental health or behavioural issues? It is strange to say, but they are often your protectors:

1. Accept their existence:  Your inner critic is a part of you.  They never go away.  How about giving your inner-critic a name?  Tell yourself they are a part of you.  Try to notice their existence in your body.

2. Find out their intention:  What does your inner critic want to achieve?  How old were you when they became active?  What was happening with you around that time?  What are they trying to protect you from?

3. Befriend:  Notice their emotions and vulnerability. They may not be as scary as they sound.  Befriend your inner-critic by practising gratitude and self-compassion.

4. Negotiate:  Let your inner critic know you need a different type of protection.

When you are experiencing depression, anxiety, addiction, or a chronic health condition, focusing on your inner critic and working on inner conflict can be very effective. 

Wisdom Psychotherapy focuses on promoting integration of conflicting parts of the Self to cultivate peace within.

Many people feel that there is a conflict between Eastern and Western philosophies about health and mental health. 

While in the West the focus is on evidence and pathology, Eastern philosophies seem to focus on the interrelatedness of ‘Body, Mind, and Spirit’ as the foundation of wellness.

How can we define ‘Body, Mind and Spirit’ in terms of health, mental health and healing? 

According to researchers of the University of Hong Kong who developed the ‘Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (I-BMS)’ clinical approach model, the aspects of Body, Mind, and Spirit are defined as follows:

• The Physical Body:  Sensation, Energy, Physical strength, Body functioning, Physiological response, etc.

• The Mind:  Cognition, Perception, Mood, Affection, Problem-solving ability, Memory, Willpower, etc.

• Spirituality:  Meaning, Life goals, Morality, Values, Commitment and fulfilment, Relationship with higher self and cosmos, Life purpose, etc.

There are many Eastern holistic perspectives embedded in the Integrative Body-Mind-Spirit (I-BMS) approach, including:

• Yin-Yang perspectives

• Daoist teachings

• Buddhist psychology and

• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).   

Based on the research in the U.S., integrative trauma and torture treatments help survivors recognise the mind-body connection, which is integral for treatment for PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder). 

Mind-body medicine approaches include Tai Chi, Qigong, Reiki, Yoga, Acupuncture and Shiatsu.

In the West, many counselling approaches originally developed within Buddhist psychology have become mainstream.  They include

• Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

• Acceptant and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and

• Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). 

Many Energy- and Somatic-based psychological models also draw on theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

We can experience severe depression or anxiety due to adverse experiences (trauma) we had in the past.  These memories often stay at an unconscious level and can cause physical illness. 

In recent years, trauma-informed practice has been getting a critical position because of this.  When working with trauma, talk therapy as such is not enough in counselling. 

This is because the body remembers trauma, and we need to reconnect with our body wisdom to restore our sense of well-being.