Buddhist Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy by Dennis Tirch & Laura R. Silberstein-Tirch & Russell L. Kolts

Author:Dennis Tirch & Laura R. Silberstein-Tirch & Russell L. Kolts [Tirch, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781462523276
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Published: 2015-10-23T03:00:00+00:00

Visualizing and Manifesting Our Compassionate Self: The CFT Compassionate Self Exercise

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For centuries, practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism and Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism have deliberately practiced imaging themselves as being an embodiment of an enlightened and compassionate presence. In Japanese, the practice known as Sanmitsu, or “three secrets,” represents an intentional coordination of “thought, word, and deed” in order to embody and manifest particular qualities of the enlightened mind. Certain tools, which could be considered to be discriminative stimuli, are used to facilitate a deep experience of immersion in the consciousness of a personification of the awakened mind, such as the compassionate mind. For example, in Buddhist art there are paintings known as mandala, which display the Buddha and other mythological beings within a series of circles. These mandala represent a map of the inner world of a human being and are symbolic of the various aspects of our personalities: of our wisdom, our rage, our joy, and even our lust. The mandala or other such images can be used as part of a sanmitsu meditation that employs visualization, sound (usually a chanted series of syllables known as mantra), and physical gestures (often small hand gestures known as mudra) to help evoke the various parts of ourselves so that we may come to terms with all aspects of our being, and from a broader perspective. The idea is that if we focus our thoughts (in terms of mental images), words (mental or verbal phrases with special meanings) and deeds, in the form of unique gestures that connect us with a particular experience, we can then later recall certain aspects of our personality that may help us to transcend suffering.

Many forms of CBT have employed imagery to evoke certain experiences. CFT in particular has drawn upon its overt Buddhist psychology influences to make the use of imagery central in the cultivation of compassion (Gilbert, 2009b). Beyond Buddhist psychology, Paul Gilbert has also used extensive consultation with method acting instructors to find culturally consonant ways of accessing certain emotional states and states of being through memory, sense, and attention. Exercises like the Compassionate Self Exercise have been researched and applied in the treatment of a range of psychological problems such as depression and anxiety, shame-based difficulties, psychosis, smoking cessation, eating disorders and other treatment aims (Tirch & Gilbert, 2014). Much like cognitive restructuring or exposure, systematically training the mind in compassion is a process that may have benefits transdiagnostically. Following a treatment plan that proceeds from a Buddhist-informed or compassion-focused case conceptualization, a clinician may choose to integrate a process of compassionate mind training as a treatment component that runs parallel with the other elements of an evidence-based approach.

This next exercise will help you imagine yourself in a different way from what you might be accustomed to, as if you are an actor who is rehearsing a role in a play or a film. The exercise involves the creation of the personification of your compassionate self who you will meet and who will be happy to see you.

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