The integration of neuroscience psychotherapy and mindfulness is the way of the future in treating many forms of mental and emotional distress. The exciting new discoveries about how the brain functions gives us a solid biological foundation to understanding various forms of human suffering and how they may be treated.
The art of psychotherapy provides the relational framework of empathy and contentment, which is indispensable in any healing endeavour, and creates a human warmth and existential meaning which goes far beyond technical clinical know-how. Mindfulness, an ancient skill that has been at the heart of many religious practices, in particular Buddhism, is now applied in clinicalsettings through various evidence-based therapies such as the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.
This lecture will focus not so much on the details of research outcomes, but rather give a broad overview and a critique of the current trends. Case studies will be presented to demonstrate how the science, the art and the skill of these three disciplines may be applied to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression and Anxiety.