Category: Applied Buddhist Psychology
Podcast: Episode 25: The Intersection of Buddhism and Shamanism in Depth Hypnosis
In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses the influence of Buddhist ideas about suffering and shamanic approaches to healing in the Depth Hypnosis method.
Article: Depth Hypnosis and Relationship Counseling
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Depth Hypnosis is a meditational therapy that incorporates many Buddhist principles. Depth Hypnosis weaves these principles into a therapeutic paradigm for individual and couples counseling. This paradigm can be easily digested by westerners who are willing to take the steps to free themselves from the dance of karma.
Podcast: Episode 22: The Relationship Between Concepts and Emotions
In this episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses why at times we can have a hard time distinguishing between mental and emotional states, She also addresses why emotional states can rarely be healed through mental interventions.
Podcast: Episode 19: Understanding 2012
In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses the 2012 era in terms of the evolution of human consciousness.
Article: Understanding the Nature of Suffering and Personal Responsibility: A Buddhist Perspective for the Modern Therapeutic Context
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
Buddhism is sometimes viewed as a pessimistic philosophy by the casual observer. Its emphasis on suffering is misunderstood as a misplaced focus for a spiritual path. But, in actuality, Buddhism’s focus on suffering actually provides a path out of that suffering. Suffering becomes a vehicle through which one can explore and understand the self.
Podcast: Episode 17: Alleviating Suffering: A Buddhist Perspective
In Buddhism, it’s understood that the realm in which we are living as beings is a realm of suffering that is a function of misconceptions of the nature of reality. In today’s episode, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. presents the Buddhist view of suffering and methods for alleviating it.
Podcast: Episode 15: Perspectives on Karma
In this excerpt from a 2010 talk on birth family dynamics, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. gives an overview of perspectives on karma and discusses its application in a modern context – particularly in matters of relationship.
Podcast: Episode 13: Buddhism and the Nature of Suffering
Buddhism is essentially an educational system whose goal is the attainment of happiness for all beings. As an educational system, Buddhism provides the student with a series of tools that helps the student come to a place where they can know as much as they can know about their experience. This knowledge is transformative. In this excerpt from a talk on Buddhist Psychology, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses Buddhism and the nature of suffering.
Article: How to Prepare for 2012 and Beyond
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D.
As 2012 approaches, more and more people are wondering what is needed to be able to meet the demands of the changes that are prophesied for the winter solstice on December 22, 2012. This date refers to the time when many ancient calendars either run out, or have a shift that creates a dramatic change to the world as we know it.
Podcast: Episode 07: The Path of the Bodhisattva
The path of the bodhisattva is, among other things, designed to break down the illusion of separation between self and other. When we talk about the Two Truths in Buddhism, ultimate reality and relative reality, in relative reality there is a separation. Ultimately, there is no separation. By serving others you wind up serving yourself. In this excerpt from a 2008 Applied Buddhist Psychology course, Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. discusses what one has to attend to within oneself in order to liberate oneself and be of service to others on the path of the bodhisattva.
Article: Notes Towards a New Understanding of Education: Bringing Intuitive and Empirical Learning Into Balance
By Isa Gucciardi, Ph.D. and Laura Chandler
As we approach the time of year where we traditionally return to formal education, it is important to consider the role that education plays in our lives. Education is defined in many different ways, and might generally be understood as a process where information regarding the nature of reality is transmitted from one person to another in a group setting.
This idea of reality could be described as a kind of consensus, based on empirical information that has been accumulated and synthesized into a modality that can be passed on through educational systems. The skillset that we develop in order to participate in this process of education requires that each individual must, to some degree, attune to the demands of the group, the desires of the instructor, and work towards the development of a rational intellect that can reproduce what is taught in a socially acceptable way. These are important skills, and necessary for members of any society.
There is, however, another important aspect of learning that is almost completely overlooked in traditional educational environments.