“DIPLOMA IN BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY”
A FOUR & A HALF SEMESTER PROGRAMME
A FOUR & A HALF SEMESTER PROGRAMME
Course leader: Dr David Brazier
Tutors: Dr Iris Dotan Katz (Israel), Dr Yaya de Andrade (Canada, Brazil), Kimiko Nita (Japan)
Web assistant: Priti Vaishnav (India)
A unique and in many cases life changing learning experience working with a highly talented team, to develop skills and knowledge and to contribute to the on-going development of applied Buddhist psychology.
History of the Course: When we first started teaching Buddhist Psychology back in 1995 it was a distance learning programme in which the materials were sent out through the regular mail post. Students' work was received in the same way. Then the internet came along and made distribution much easier. Finally, with the pandemic, zoom enabled many new developments. The current iteration of the programme is now three years old and yielded its first crop of happy graduates this year.
Theme: Buddhist Psychology has been developing over the past 2500 years. This unusual independent programme presents this wisdom in a form accessible to modern people. The programme based primarily upon the work of Dr. Brazier, has been developing over three decades and has been run in Korean, Spanish and English, It is continuously revised and updated in the light of changing circumstances (covid, zoom, etc.), student experience, and new research and studies. The 2024 intake will be the third run of the current iteration of the course and students will have some interaction with those who are one or two years ahead of them.
The programme presents Buddhist teachings as a psychological medium. This is not a course on using Buddhist techniques to assist Western style therapy, but rather an in-depth examination of Buddhist wisdom applied as psychology: the spiritual path from a psychological point of view and psychological work from a spiritual perspective. It imparts important, liberating, interpersonal skills, personal insight and develops Buddhist compassion.
Format:
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Study Material: theoretical and stimulus material, mostly text, but also including audio and video items, is presented on dedicated web pages with associated experiential exercises for students to perform and report back on.
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Co-operative Learning - students see and comment on each other's work.
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Optional seminars by zoom every two or three weeks led by staff with time for student inter-action.
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Individual Tutorials.
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Peer Learning Groups. A vitally important part of the course.
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On-line Weekend Workshops three times per year (January, June & October) with lectures, case presentation, experiential groupwork and topic discussions.
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Summer School: A one week optional in-person summer school is offered in August in France
The course is divided into six week units called "Classrooms". Spring Semesters (February-July) contain four "Classrooms". Autumn Semesters (September-January) have three Classrooms. Each Classroom contains three topics for study. There are 16 "Classrooms" altogether.
Content: The study materials introduce the major Buddhist teachings common to most schools of Buddhism presented as psychology, showing their applications in personal practice, interpersonal work, psychotherapy and society. The material is quite extensive and requires a minimum of three hours per week. There are no grades, but there are deadlines.
Suitable for: This is a programme for therapists who want to deepen their understanding of the Buddhist perspective, for Buddhist practitioners wishing to learn a therapeutic and inter-personal way of applying the Buddhist teachings, and for all wishing to deepen their insight into their own lives and relationships with others.
Time Zones: Students come from many countries and zones. Seminars are generally repeated morning and evening European time so as to provide options.
Pre-Entry: The next intake will likely be 1st February 2025, depending on the number of applicants. Students who book early may start to attend seminars from their date of enrolment but will not receive course materials until the intake date.
Staff:
Dr David Brazier, psychotherapist and Buddhist teacher, author of sixteen books including Zen Therapy and many other writings. Co-editor of the Oxford Manual of Meditation. English, living in France.
Dr. Iris Dotan Katz, clinical psychologist with a private practice in Tel Aviv has many years of experience in Zen and Pureland Buddhism and in socially engaged action and peacemaking.
Dr. Yaya de Andrade, a Canadian retired psychologist, originally from Brazil, lived and worked in Vancouver for more than 40 years. She has special interest working with refugees, indigenous peoples, and other groups recovering from traumatic circumstances, wars and major disasters around the world. She currently lives nearby Toronto.
Kimiko Nita, clinical psychologist, specialises in work with children and young adults, has a private practice for adult clients in Tokyo, and a special interest in Naikan therapy.
A number of graduates of the course also function as mentors.
Comments from Recent Students:
- Thank you so much for recommending this course, so deep and so special. No words to descripe what this all brings me.
- I am very grateful to David for his endless transmission and creativity, to my fellow group members throughout the study process and to life for giving me the opportunity to experience all this. I'm still on the path,
- There is a strong support for our group and all that we had experienced together and the trust and friendship that had built between us and allowed us to share many parts of our lives that we would not or could not share with other people. We all agreed to continue after the course has finished and were grateful to Dharmavidya for all we had learned.
- I am very grateful to David for his endless transmission and creativity, to my fellow group members throughout the study process and to life for giving me the opportunity to experience all this. I'm still on the path,
- There is a strong support for our group and all that we had experienced together and the trust and friendship that had built between us and allowed us to share many parts of our lives that we would not or could not share with other people. We all agreed to continue after the course has finished and were grateful to Dharmavidya for all we had learned.
- We felt immense gratitude towards Dharmavidya for bringing all of us together, to the tutors for their guidance and sharing, for the life-changing course and for our beloved PLG group. We all reiterated the importance of the PLG group not only for the purpose of exercises and the course but also how it has helped and supported all of us in our journey and matters of life.
- My beautiful colleagues have said how very grateful we are. We will continue on this path and with the new society as well. Thank you all very much and the great opportunity. As I said at the meeting, it is a very noble gesture to form groups and contact people from so many different places and countries. an incredible and great intention to help.
Fees: £230 per semester (equivalent to £1050 for the whole course over two years and three months).
To Register an Interest: Please write to Jisshas <jisshas@googlegroups.com>
giving Full name, Date of birth. Street address. Phone &/or Mobile, E-mail address. Web page (if any). Details of your background in Buddhism (if any). Details of your background in psychology/therapy (if any). Your reasons for interest in the course.
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