University Professors Press is excited to announce the release of Brilliant Sanity: Buddhist Approaches to Psychotherapy and Counseling (Vol. 1: Revised & Expanded Edition). This update to the highly successful original version includes four new chapters and many updated chapters. Receive a 10% discount using this discount code at checkout through September 30, 2021: “bsnr_9742” (coupon also good with the Francis Kaklauskas Bundle and Louis Hoffman Scholarly Bundle).
About Brilliant Sanity
Brilliant Sanity: Buddhist Approaches to Psychotherapy and Counseling (Volume 1: Revised and Expanded Edition) brings together influential scholars and practitioners who have studied and practiced at the intersection of Buddhism, psychotherapy, and counseling, including Karen Wegela, Mark Epstein, Han F. de Wit, Ed Podvoll, Jeff Fortuna, Robert Walker, Farrell Silverberg, Chuck Knapp, Dale Asreal, and others. Brilliant Sanity draws particularly from the Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist traditions that emphasize the importance of individuals being of benefit to others and the world. This revised and expanded edition comes 13-years after the release of the widely successful first edition and includes four new chapters. The majority of the original chapters have been updated drawing upon advances in theory and research. In this new volume, increased attention is given to multicultural and social justice perspectives as well. The introduction and 24 chapters in this new edition are essential reading for students and experienced practitioners interested in Buddhist psychotherapy and counseling.
What People Are Saying…
Brilliant Sanity sets the ambitious goal of joining Buddhist teaching and meditation practice to the practice of psychotherapy and it achieves that goal. Not only are the historical contexts of both Buddhist and psychotherapeutic traditions presented, but they are linked to such disparate areas as love and joy, large groups, therapist countertransference, social justice efforts, and even motherhood among other areas. The clinical examples portrayed in this volume gently illustrate the value of the meditative practice of relaxing into uncertainty with acceptance and non-judgment. Moreover, as one author observes, Buddhism and psychoanalysis are inevitably paths to disappointment though this is not a problem to be solved but to be understood and embraced. Brilliant Sanity offers that understanding and is a path to enrichment.
Joseph Shay, PhD, co-author of Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy and co-editor of Odysseys in Psychotherapy
and Complex Dilemmas in Group Therapy
Lecturer on Psychiatry, Dept. of Psychiatry, Part-time, Harvard Medical School
Notions of brilliant sanity speak to the wisdom of a mind at peace, able to bear witness to its own insights with the clarity of a still pond. That is the promise of Eastern wisdom traditions, that we all have the power to transcend our ordinary, rather discursive minds, in favor of our true Buddha nature, intelligent, brilliant, and innately sane.
With enlivened descriptions and surveying timely research scholarship, Brilliant Sanity: Buddhist Approaches to Psychotherapy and Counseling, Revised and Expanded Edition, highlights the various meditative paths toward one’s own realization—the “where” and “how” magic becomes possible when living a life with mindful awareness. The book’s carefully culled selections from contemporary thought-leaders address a global community in psychological and cultural conflict and flux, reaching through its own confusion for confluence and social justice. In these trying times that can push us to the emotional or spiritual brink, seeking that inner wellspring of sanity as medicine is a smart idea. Psychologists, social workers, counselors, and others in the caring professions, as well as anyone interested in contemplative solutions to modern-day challenges, will find answers, solace, and renewed self-confidence in the stories told and understanding shared in Brilliant Sanity.
Donna Rockwell, PsyD
Clinical Psychologist in private practice, and Mindfulness Meditation teacher, Saybrook University
Brilliant Sanity enriches our ability to grow interconnectedness and compassion in a therapeutic frame. From a place of deep wisdom, the authors have curated diverse perspectives for students of philosophical Buddhism and psychotherapy.
Siddharth Ashvin Shah, MD, MPH, CEO Greenleaf Integrative
With heart, scholarship, and practicality, Brilliant Sanity wonderfully tells the current story of the century-long dialogue between Buddhism and Western psychotherapy. The collection provides both breadth and depth. Each unique chapter is informative, thought-provoking and deeply grounded in personal and real-world application.
Sara Lewis, PhD, LCSW, author Spacious Minds: Trauma and Resilience in Tibetan Buddhism,
Chair, Contemplative Psychotherapy and Buddhist Psychology program, Naropa University
Contemplative psychotherapy informed by Buddhism reveals that ordinary magic that can happen when we embrace the inherent goodness and wholeness of every being. These psychotherapists—all deep practitioners—have found a profound means of healing for themselves and their clients.
Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown, PhD, Naropa University, and
author of Dakini’s Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism
This revised and expanded edition of Brilliant Sanity continues its excellent exploration of the shared domain between Buddhism and Psychotherapy. In particular, Brilliant Sanity attempts to take the reader deep into the heart of and soul of both traditions beyond the culturally encapsulated traditions of psychotherapy that see mindfulness meditation merely as a coping skill.
Ian E. Wickramasekera, II, PsyD
Fellow, American Psychological Association
Faculty, Naropa University
Board Vice Chair, Rocky Mountain Humanistic Counseling and Psychological Association