Implications of the 'Kill the Buddha' Tradition for Psychotherapy: Rituals, Charisma, and Constructed Reality

摘要

This article examines some of the basic theoretical assumptions of psychotherapy; more specifically, it uses the "kill the Buddha" tradition in spiritual practice to offer a perspective on the question of whether psychotherapy techniques have inherent power or whether they are therapeutic rituals. In order to understand this debate, the psychotherapy outcome research is reviewed with special focus on training and experience effects, the "dodo bird" thesis, and the search for specific factors. In addition, a cross-profession analysis is performed in the area of privileged knowledge-the knowledge base that is required in order to perform the basic tasks of the profession. Professions with privileged knowledge-such as engineering and cardiology-operate in fundamental reality; professions without privileged knowledge-such as psychotherapy, leadership, and education-operate in constructed reality. The implications of practicing psychotherapy in constructed reality are explored with an emphasis on training and enhancing clinical outcomes. Perhaps the most significant inference of operating in constructed reality is the spiritual implications; essentially a healing profession requires a spiritual foundation to avoid the relativity and meaninglessness implicit in social constructionism. Moreover, "kill the Buddha" metaphors push psychology toward what Aldous Huxley called the "perennial philosophy," the thesis that essential spiritual principles arise independently across history and culture. This article is derived from my book, Practicing Psychotherapy in Constructed Reality: Ritual, Charisma, and Enhancing Therapeutic Outcomes (Bacon, 2018).