Psychotherapist and Expansion of Awareness

Abstract

The author emphasizes the therapist's well-integrated and matured personality as the crucial element for being a good psychotherapist; therefore, it is essential for a psychotherapist to make ceaseless efforts regarding his own personality growth with his ongoing therapeutic experiences. Nevertheless, nowadays students are apt to satisfy themselves with or cling to the theories and techniques of psychotherapy, neglecting their own personality growth. The author attributes such a tendency, on the one hand, to the contemporary thought of 'technology first and convenience first', on the other, to the current system of medical education which is extremely faithful to scientism. He warns that concepts or theories sometimes serve as a barrier in one's mind and falsify the reality. He reiterates the importance of the therapist's own maturity and expansion of awareness. In this context, the author recommends Zen meditation or Theravada meditation as one of the advanced courses of training for psychotherapists. He elucidates a way of promoting one's awareness in Zen meditation and what the ultimate state of "no-self" of Zen should be, based on his own experience of Zen practices.