What’s Contemplative Psychotherapy? (You’re Basically Good)
At its heart, Contemplative Psychotherapy is built on a simple but radical assumption: human beings are not fundamentally broken.
We suffer. We become overwhelmed, disconnected, ashamed, anxious, angry, numb, and lost. We develop habits of avoiding pain and protecting ourselves from uncertainty. We get caught in patterns that no longer serve us.
Yet beneath all of that remains an innate capacity for wisdom, clarity, compassion, and dignity.
In Contemplative Psychotherapy, this is sometimes called brilliant sanity or basic goodness. It does not mean people are always kind, healthy, or making wise choices. It means that our struggles are not the entirety of who we are.
The work of therapy is not becoming someone else. It is learning how to reconnect with what was never truly lost.
Origins
Like many therapeutic approaches, Contemplative Psychotherapy developed in response to questions about how humans suffer and heal.
Contemplative Psychotherapy emerged in the 1970s through a dialogue between Buddhist contemplative traditions and Western psychotherapy. Influenced by the teachings of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and developed by clinicians, meditation practitioners, and scholars, it sought to integrate contemplative awareness with our western understandings of clinical psychological.
Psychiatrist Edward Podvoll later established the first formal Contemplative Psychotherapy training program at Naropa Institute, helping to shape and develop the field. The approach emphasizes presence, awareness, compassion, and the therapist's relationship to their own mind.
“Contemplative psychotherapy may be said to have two parents: the 2,500-year-old wisdom tradition of Buddhism and the clinical traditions of Western Psychology, especially the Humanistic school. Like all offspring it has much in common with both of its parents and yet is uniquely itself at the same time.”
Brilliant Sanity
Contemplative Psychotherapy assumes that every person possesses an underlying wholeness that remains intact, even during periods of profound suffering.
This is not a passive or naive stance. It is a demanding one.
It means that when a client brings shame, rage, despair, fear, numbness, or confusion into the room, the therapist does not view those experiences as evidence that something is fundamentally wrong or must be fixed. Instead, these experiences are understood as part of the human condition and as expressions of suffering that deserve careful attention.
Suffering often develops when we learn to turn away from ourselves, from one another, and from the realities of impermanence (everything changes, nothing is fixed) and interdependence (everything is connected, nothing exists independently). We lose touch with our innate clarity, but we do not lose it entirely.
The work is helping people rediscover their own capacity for wisdom and compassionate action.
Maitrī
Maitrī (pronounced my-tree) is Maytree's namesake — slightly adjusted. It's a Sanskrit word often translated as loving-kindness, and it points to the practice of meeting ourselves and others with unconditional friendliness.
Maitrī does not mean approving of everything we think, feel, or do. It does not require forced positivity or self-esteem.
Instead, it is the practice of relating to ourselves with curiosity, honesty, and goodwill—even when we encounter parts of ourselves we would rather avoid.
Across therapeutic approaches, from CBT and ACT to IFS and compassion-focused therapies, a similar theme emerges: self-aggression tends to perpetuate suffering.
We could keep investing in self-contempt — or turning that contempt outward. But at some point it's worth considering: does it actually work? Maitrī invites us to experiment with a different kind of relationship to our own and others experience.
Mindfulness & Presence
Mindfulness is one of the primary practices associated with Contemplative Psychotherapy, but it is often misunderstood.
It is not about eliminating thoughts, controlling emotions, or maintaining a calm state of mind.
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to present-moment experience with openness and curiosity.
Traditionally, this takes the form of shamatha-vipashyana meditation: resting attention on the breath, noticing when the mind wanders, and gently returning.
Simple in concept. Lifelong in practice.
Through mindfulness, we begin to notice the difference between our immediate experience and the stories we automatically construct about that experience. This creates space for greater flexibility, awareness, and choice.
Not every contemplative therapist incorporates formal meditation into sessions. What matters most is what is going to help.
Integrating Western Psychology
Contemplative Psychotherapy does not replace Western clinical approaches. Rather, it provides a philosophical foundation that informs how those approaches are used.
The therapeutic relationship remains central. Trust, warmth, honesty, respect, and genuine human connection are not viewed as techniques but as essential conditions for healing.
Within that foundation, therapists may draw from a variety of evidence-based approaches, including:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
(itself, inspired by Buddhism)Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Somatic approaches and body-based interventions
These approaches offer valuable tools. Contemplative Psychotherapy provides the lens through which those tools can be understood.
What Sessions May Look Like:
At the root of it: two human beings being alive together.
Beyond that, sessions are experiential and relational. Rather than working only at the level of explanation or insight, we pay attention to what is happening in your experience as it unfolds — emotionally, physically, and relationally.
This may include:
Tracking emotional and bodily experience in real time
Noticing patterns of avoidance, self-judgment, or control as they arise
Working with difficult experience directly rather than talking around it
Attending to the therapeutic relationship itself as part of the work
Mindfulness practices may be introduced when helpful, but they are never used to suppress emotions or control symptoms. The goal is awareness, not avoidance.
Who This Approach Often Resonates With
Contemplative Psychotherapy may resonate with people who:
Feel stuck despite insight or coping strategies
Experience persistent self-criticism, shame, or inner conflict
Struggle with anxiety, existential concerns, or emotional overwhelm
Want therapy that emphasizes presence and depth alongside practical tools
Are curious about mindfulness without wanting spiritual pressure or dogma
You do not need meditation experience. You do not need particular spiritual beliefs.
Only a willingness to become a little more curious about your experience—and perhaps a little friendlier toward yourself along the way.
Chelsea O'Day-Navis is a Licensed Professional Counselor, LLPC Clinical Supervisor, and the founder of Maytree Therapy.