Buddhist Teachings and Their Influence on Modern Psychology
By David Hennessy, Clinical Psychologist
People respond well to ideas that help them feel grounded, steady, and connected to what matters. Buddhist teachings have offered this kind of guidance for more than two thousand years, and they remain relevant today. They encourage a softer approach to thoughts and emotions, inviting people to bring more space, openness, and warmth to their inner world.
Across my years in the trades, as a counsellor and trainer, and through ongoing study and clinical practice, I have observed that people value ideas that are grounded and workable. Buddhist philosophy offers practical ways of seeing the mind that sit comfortably alongside many modern therapies. These shared ideas support calmer patterns, more spacious awareness, and a gentler relationship with personal experience.
This post provides an accessible overview of common Buddhist teachings and examines how these concepts are applied in contemporary psychological practice.
Buddhist Teachings: A Brief Overview
The Four Noble Truths
A gentle framework that acknowledges human discomfort and outlines steps that help people move toward steadier living. These steps include recognising challenges, noticing contributing conditions, and taking actions that support wellbeing.
The Eightfold Path
A set of guiding practices that help people orient their behaviour, intentions, and attention in ways that promote balance. Elements such as right effort, right mindfulness, and right action align well with therapeutic work.
Impermanence (Anicca)
Life moves constantly. Thoughts, sensations, and emotions rise and fall. Recognising this helps people soften their approach to discomfort and hold experiences with more flexibility.
Non Attachment (Anatta)
A gentle softening around roles, stories, and expectations. This is not detachment. It invites a more spacious way of relating to experience that eases pressure and supports healthier responses.
Compassion (Karuna)
Warmth and understanding toward oneself and others. Compassion often reduces shame and helps people approach challenges with more steadiness.
Mindfulness (Sati)
Awareness of the present moment approached with steadiness and without judgement. Mindfulness changes how people relate to thoughts and emotions and allows room for thoughtful choices.
Where These Teachings Appear in Modern Psychology
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
These programs incorporate meditation practices that have long existed within Buddhist traditions. They guide people to observe their internal world with steadiness and less overwhelm.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice thoughts and feelings while moving toward behaviours guided by personal values. This reflects ideas of impermanence and non-attachment and supports a more flexible inner approach.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy includes mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and compassionate engagement. These areas echo long-standing Buddhist practices focused on presence and warmth.
Compassion Focused Therapy
Compassion-focused therapy blends Western psychology with compassion-based traditions. It nurtures emotional safety, kindness toward oneself, and supportive inner dialogue.
Trauma Informed Approaches
Grounding, breath awareness, and gentle observation of internal states are common across trauma therapies. These practices align closely with mindfulness and steady presence.
Why These Teachings Fit Well With Therapy
Across clinical practice, I have seen that many people benefit from approaches that reduce internal pressure and make room for thoughtful action. Buddhist teachings support this through ideas that remind us:
- experiences move across time
- all people encounter periods of discomfort
- compassion softens harsh self-judgment
- awareness supports healthier choices
- steady practice helps create meaningful change
These ideas blend smoothly with modern psychological frameworks and offer guidance that many people find helpful in their daily lives.
Books for All Experience Levels
Introductory and Beginner Friendly
- Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat Zinn
- The Mindful Way through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat Zinn
- The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
- A Path with Heart by Jack Kornfield
For Therapists and Experienced Practitioners
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, and John Teasdale
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change by Steven Hayes, Kirk Strosahl, and Kelly Wilson
- Compassion Focused Therapy: Distinctive Features by Paul Gilbert
- Mindfulness in Clinical Practice by Christopher Germer and Ronald Siegel
- Learning ACT by Jason Luoma, Steven Hayes, and Robyn Walser
References
- Baer, R. A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 125 to 143.
https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg015 - Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., et al. (2004).
Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 230 to 241.
https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077 - Kabat Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144 to 156.
https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg016 - Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (2nd ed.).
New York, NY: Guilford Press. - Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2018).
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (2nd ed.).
New York, NY: Guilford Publications. - Linehan, M. M. (1993).
Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder.
New York, NY: Guilford Press. - Gilbert, P. (2010).
Compassion Focused Therapy: Distinctive Features.
Hove, UK: Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203851197 - Hofmann, S. G., Sawyer, A. T., Witt, A. A., & Oh, D. (2010).
The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 78(2), 169 to 183.
https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018555 - Khoury, B., Lecomte, T., Fortin, G., Masse, M., Therien, P., Bouchard, V., et al. (2013).
Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis.
Clinical Psychology Review, 33(6), 763 to 771.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2013.05.005 - Goldberg, S. B., Tucker, R. P., Greene, P. A., Simpson, T. L., Kearney, D. J., & Davidson, R. J. (2018).
Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Clinical Psychology Review, 59, 52 to 60.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011 - Bunjak, A., Černe, M., & Schölly, E. L. (2022).
Exploring the past, present, and future of the mindfulness field: A multitechnique bibliometric review.
Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 792599.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.792599
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