Brilliant Sanity

Also known as basic goodness, brilliant sanity is the notion that within each and every one of us is a natural wisdom and dignity. It also asserts that our basic nature (no matter how much we may be suffering) is clear, fresh, compassionate, and open.

The causes of suffering are never disconnected from the larger systems in which we live. What causes suffering are the ways in which we (and the Collective We) learn to turn away from ourselves, each other, from our basic nature, and from things as they are (impermanent, painful at times, non-fixated, ego-less). When we turn away, we temporarily cover up our brilliant sanity, we may not be able to recognize or experience it; however we never lose it.

Contemplative psychotherapists work from the belief that no matter how much we are suffering as an individual or a collective, brilliant sanity is still here, and we work to cultivate access to experiencing, increasing tolerance, and resting within it. This is not a passive teaching. When we learn not to turn away, we are able to see clearly what needs to change, harm that is being done to ourselves, others, and our communities. To take rightful action, we need to see things as they are, we need to not turn away, and this takes practice.

Maitrī

Also known as loving-kindness, maitrī is the practice of loving oneself and others unconditionally. Love may mean something different to everybody. In this practice, it means benevolence, kindness, friendliness, and having an active interest.

While quite a unique name, this practice is not “woo-woo” and is supported by even the most current research. You might guess that the opposite of maitrī is self-aggression, and I’d agree. In any field of psychology, self-aggression is known to be unhelpful and a hindrance to mental health treatment. Mental health practitioners from any lineage will agree that self-aggression perpetuates and amplifies suffering, and many approaches to therapy specifically target the way we treat and speak to ourselves and others as a large part of treatment.

The practice of maitrī really is the practice of bringing kindness and curiosity to our experiences, no matter how much we may dislike them. We could continue to invest in self-contempt or contempt for others, but is that really helpful?

Mindfulness Practices

Only through practice can we learn to see ourselves clearly and to not be hooked by our habitual patterns that cause suffering. Not only are we trained to support our clients with these practices (whether we name that as mindfulness or not), we do this with ourselves, constantly. We study our own minds and the ways in which we, too, suffer.

The most utilized practice in contemplative psychotherapy is a sitting meditation practice called samatha-vipassana. Basically speaking, it is the practice of noticing when we are lost in our thoughts and coming back to the present moment. The practice begins by sitting comfortably, whether it’s on a floor or a chair, with an upright, but not uptight position. We want to be relaxed, but alert, and allowing our bodies to embody these qualities sets us up for the practice. The practice is to be present with an anchor, usually the breath. Being present with our breath, our minds will eventually wander off into thoughts, stories, memories, plans. That’s what brains do, they think! The practice is to label any content of the mind as “thinking,” and coming back to the breath.

Contemplative psychotherapists may or may not incorporate samatha-vipassana practice during sessions, as we may find other ways to assist folks with bringing clarity to their experience and differentiating between thoughts/stories/memories that cause suffering and what is happening now. Now always being fresh, clear, and open.

Don't be tricked, we cannot bypass our pain! Coming back to our breath or seeing thoughts as thoughts are only a few types of practices. This does not mean stories don’t matter, they very much do! The stories we tell are important. We use mindful and contemplative practices not to bypass our pain and suffering, but to see it for what it is, honor the ways we’ve learned to survive, and decide how we’d like to relate to ourselves going forward.

Now for the West

As it is also honored in clinical western approaches to psychotherapy, contemplative psychotherapists also put a strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship. In order to have success in therapy, the therapist-client relationship has to be strong. We work to encourage and embody honesty, respect, compassion, and advocacy.

Mindfulness is kind of a buzz-word these days, isn’t it? Now seen as a modern approach to therapy (as research is catching up and validating these approaches as effective) what a lot of folks forget is that the Buddhists have been practicing mindfulness for thousands of years. It’s not new. What’s new is how it’s now getting the “stamp of approval” as an evidenced-based approach to psychotherapy.

Contemplative psychotherapists are trained to use our creativity during sessions. We will utilize more western clinical approaches to therapy when we feel that is the most appropriate or helpful given the person and their unique situation. Approaches that Chelsea uses are internal family systems, acceptance & commitment therapy (also inspired by Buddhist tradition), cognitive behavioral therapy, and somatic interventions.