Counseling and therapy
- The Indian approach to counseling focuses on the person as a whole and not on the parts of the mind or body only that are affected
- Focus on holistic development of individual
- Western or scientific psychology was introduced in India at Calcutta university (1905)
- Training of counselors has received more attention only in the last 2 decades although they were many established departments of academic psychology in the country
- The need for counseling and guidance leads to the initiation of courses in psychology
- According to Ayurveda, wellness is a delicate balance between mind, body, and spirit
Yoga
- Yoga leads to the regulation of body, breath, and mind leading to stillness
- God’s experience
Counseling and therapy in the Indian Context
- Counseling is not new to India
- Our sages have tried to understand the mental process of the ways to control it
- Psychology= philosophical + religious texts
- Ancient Indian text provides detailed and well-explained constructs like mind, cognition, personality, and emotions.
- Research shows lots of resemblance between the western and eastern forms of counseling
- Ancient Indian texts and scriptures are rich with useful insights for counseling practices
- Each culture is characterized by its own features and practices
Venkatesan (2010) has mentioned certain unique features of Indian families
- Emphasis on interdependence
- Extended family structure
- Supremacy of parent-child relationship
- Hierarchy
- Expression of emotions through actions than words
- More focus on spirituality
- Value-based living
- Family is the focal point in the Indian social-cultural context which prescribes and shapes the value system of individuals
- In our culture, it is also said “Mata, Pita, Guru, Deivam”- development of character, personality, and values
- Counseling is involved as part of their influence and guidance to growing children and developing person
- Hence counseling is more directive in nature given the collectivistic context of India
- Recently, there has been a growing realization that traditional Indian philosophical thoughts should also be incorporated into therapeutic practices.
- It is important to know the social-cultural background of a person before thinking of therapeutic intervention
Vipassana and Mindfulness
Vipassana
- Type of insight meditation that is thought to have been first taught by Buddha
- One of the earliest forms of meditation
- Involves observing one’s thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment, and focusing on the present moment
- Realize suffering and internalize the truth of impermanence
- The primary tradition of meditation is SriLanka as well as South East, Asia
Mindfulness
- Mindfulness is the action of paying attention to whatever is happening while it is happening
- In original Buddhist texts, mindfulness is called “Sati” and it is associated with remembering
- Mindfulness is a state of mind that needs to be experienced and recognized by each individual and has many levels of depth into it.
Hatha Yoga based therapy
- Hatha Yoga is an umbrella term to describe many of the most common forms of yoga taught in the west today
- With this type of yoga, one can move their body slowly and deliberately into different possess that challenge your strength and flexibility
- It also focuses on relaxation and mindfulness
Methods of Hatha Yoga
- Asana- Yoga postures
- Pranayama- breathing technique
- Mantra- chanting or reciting
- Mudra- hand gestures
- Shat Kriyas and shatkarmas- cleansing techniques
- Type of Visualization- Imagery
Psychological Change
It gives not only physical changes but mental and emotional too
They can enhance feelings of happiness and well-being, help release sadness and grieving, and encourage relaxation and dynamism
Benefits
- Stress reduction
- Reduced depression symptoms
- Muscle and joint flexibility
- Core strength (muscle)
Origin
Hatha yoga traces its origins, especially to Gorakhnath, founder of Kanphata yogis – the physical and spiritual discipline of Hatha yoga.
Gita as Guide
- Bhagavad Gita is a part of the epic Mahabharata
- Consists of 18 chapters and 701 verses
- Serves as a spiritual guide to many people
- One of the most proclaimed citations of the counseling process
- Lord Krishna assists the battlefield in Kurukshetra
- Arjuna got depressed when he had to fight with his own relatives
- It was a verbal communication process took place as counseling between Krishna and Arjuna to overcome stress and Anxiety took place in Arjuna
- Krishna counsels Arjuna to attain Mental Equilibrium
- The context of Lord Krishna and Arjuna is often equated with various psychotherapeutic approaches of Western- Behavioral therapy, Client-centered therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy
- It offers an explanation of effective counseling and the characteristics of a good counselor
- It offers explanations to effective and characteristics of a good counselor
- Bhagavad Gita provides insight into the therapeutic solution to many distressing problems
- Jnana. Karma, and Bhakti- are considered important approaches to understanding and leading a fruitful life
- Jnana- Cognitive appraisal (this helps to reduce the impacts of negative life events)
- Karma- refers to one’s action
- Bhakti- faith in god ( Stresses the importance of identification of the soul of an individual with supreme soul through dedication and surrender)
- All three approaches to life can help one deal with various problems and sufferings of life and help one to focus on supreme knowledge and power
Education- Gandhi’s Nai Talim
- The phrase Nai Talim is a combination of two words- Nai means ‘New’ and Talim-Urdu- Education
- Introduced by Gandhiji
- Year: 1937
- Aim: To achieve the liberation of villages
Gandhiji’s dream
- To make all villages independent and self-reliant
- Approach to total personality development of body, mind, and spirit and based on 4 principles
- Work should be linked with the most useful vocational needs of the locality
- Education or learning in the mother tongue along with handicraft work
- Learning should be linked with vocational work
- Work should be socially valuable and productive needed for living
- Gandhiji’s first experiments in education began at Tolstoy farm Ashram in South Africa
- It was much later, while living in sevagram(Wardha) and in eating of the independence struggle, that Gandhi whole his influential article in Harijan about education
- Lifelong character and education
- Social character
- A holistic process
- Thus, Gandhi’s education is “The Moral development of the person, a process that is by definition “lifelong”
- He believed in the importance of the role of the teacher in the learning process
Satyagraha- Psychospiritual tool for conflict resolution
- Satyagraha is the most important contribution of Gandhi to social philosophy and movement
- It emerged as a weapon of conflict resolution
- The concept of Satyagraha could be understood in the broader context of Gandhian socio-political thought that developed out of actions- Experiments with truth
- Gandhi gave a revolutionary turn to social movements
- He applied Satyagraha in the non-violent struggle against injustice, exploitation, and dictatorship
- Gandhi’s worldview is rooted in the concept of peace, which was comprehensive
- He linked peace with truth achieved through non-violence
- Transformation of the individual was an essential element of satyagraha
Satya, Ahimsa, and Moral State
Satya
- Gandhi’s fundamental belief is in Satya, truth which he also called God
- Satya- the ruling principle of the universe
- Satya manifests itself in all living beings, especially in humans as self-conscious or soul or spirit
- Ahimsa
- The achievement of political or moral ends through Ahimsa is what Gandhi called satyagraha, ‘truth force’ or ‘non-violence action
- Morality
- Civilization is that mode of conduct that points out to man the path of duty
- Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms
- To observe morality is to attain mastery over our minds and our passions.
Satyagraha as a weapon of conflict resolution
- On various occasions, Gandhi clarified the difference between passive resistance and satyagraha
- “Satyagraha is more dynamic force than passive resistance because it contemplates prolonged mass action in resistance to injustice”
- “Satyagraha can be practiced at all levels-domestic, national, and international while passive resistance is contemplated at the political level only”
- Satyagraha offers continuous purification of the mind
- It has no place for hatred while passive resistance may be compatible with internal violence toward the enemy
- Satyagraha includes Agraha or Moral pressure for the sake of truth
- Fasting can be one extreme form of Satyagraha
- Gandhi held that fasting and prayer give the required discipline, the spirit of self-sacrifice, humility, and resoluteness of will
- Gandhi’s experiments with truth taught him revealing lessons about Satyagraha
- Gandhi’s satyagraha was an act of moral creativity
- The philosophy of satyagraha holds that every human being is capable of doing well and thinking well.