Abstract
I will draw my general conclusions from long term psychotherapy with five Westerners who have become Buddhists monks and had completed at least the preliminary practices in their traditions.
My assertion is that whilst the content and issues remain similar to other therapies the context and process of therapy is affected by the scholarship and discipline of the committed Buddhist practitioners. This results in differences to psychotherapeutic alliance.
It will be argued that Buddhist philosophical training such as The Four Noble Truths stabilize the therapeutic bond and that Buddhists Practices such as (single pointed attention meditation) and Mindfulness Training are helpful in setting observing egos in these cases. Other specific practices such as Deity Visualisation and Tantric Ritual Practices will be viewed as the equivalent of emotional training fields in positive states such as compassion.
The key messages will be that in applying Buddhist philosophy and practice techniques we will find a number of states that support and further the psychotherapeutic alliance and further these goals.
My conclusion will be that the Tibetan Buddhist encourage emotional, behavioral, and existential trainings for the mind and body that support and further the goals of psychotherapy.
