4/29/2023: Spring Symposium: Bringing Buddhism to Psychotherapy: Toward an Integration

Presenter: 
Mark Epstein, MD
This Course has passed.

Saturday, April 29, 2023, at 9:00 am to 12:00 pm PST. Live Webinar.

Spring Symposium:
Bringing Buddhism to Psychotherapy: Toward an Integration

In his most recent book, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life, Mark Epstein reflects on a year’s worth of selected sessions with his patients and observes how, in the incidental details of a given hour, his Buddhist sensibility influences the way he works. How are minds jolted in therapy? How is the ego disrupted and the soul made aware? How can Buddhism enhance (or obstruct) psychodynamic therapy? What is the role of simple kindness in emotional and spiritual health? 

In celebration of TPI’s 50th anniversary, Dr. Epstein will speak to his own efforts over the past 50 years to bring the wisdom of Buddhism into his clinical work. Known for his many books on the subject, including Thoughts without a Thinker and Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, he will speak to his ongoing attempts to describe how Buddhism, with its emphasis on clinging, mindfulness, insight and compassion, can enliven and enhance the practice of psychotherapy.

Course Objectives:

  • Participants will be able to apply the essentials of Buddhist philosophy and psychology into your clinical psychotherapeutic work.
  • Participants will be able to discuss the role of mindfulness in clinical practice and its relationship to ‘mentalization.’
  • Participants will be able to differentiate between mindfulness and insight practices and utilize the central concept of ‘emptiness’ to better understand the self.

Mark Epstein Seated PortraitMark Epstein, MD, a psychiatrist in private practice in New York City, is the author of a number of books about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy, including Thoughts without a Thinker, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart, Going on Being, Open to Desire, Psychotherapy without the Self, The Trauma of Everyday Life and Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself. His latest work, The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life, was published in 2022 by Penguin Press. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from Harvard University.

Date & Time: Saturday, April 29, 2023, from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm PST. Live Webinar.
Zoom invite will be sent out a few days prior to the course date.

Location: Virtual format—Zoom
Contact Administrative Coordinator Sierra Wilson with any questions or concerns: sbrown@tpi-berkeley.org.

 Fee if Registration Completed: Early Bird by 12/19/22 after 12/19/22 after 04/18/23
TPI Members $100 $125 $150
Nonmembers $125 $150 $175
Prelicensed Students/Associates $75 $100 $125

CE: 3 Credits. $5 additional fee per CE credit (i.e. 3 CE credits is $15 total). Attendees must participate in live sessions to receive CE's. The Psychotherapy Institute is approved by the California Psychological Association to provide continuing professional education for psychologists, LMFTs, LCSWs, and LPCCs (provider number PSY005). The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts continuing education credit granted by the California Psychological Association or by any of its Approved Providers. The Psychotherapy Institute maintains responsibility for this program and its content. (see Registration and Course Policies).

Registration Closes: 
Friday, April 28, 2023 - 3:00pm
$5 fee per CE