What Is Buddhist Psychology — and How Does It Apply to Therapy?
You don't have to meditate. You don't have to be spiritual. You don't have to know anything about Buddhism at all.
Buddhist psychology therapy isn't about religion. It's about understanding the mind — and it turns out, the Buddhist tradition figured out a lot about human suffering, healing, and what it actually means to feel okay long before modern psychology arrived on the scene.
At Peace of Mind Therapy Buddhist psychology is one of the approaches woven into how we work — and it's one of the things that makes our practice genuinely different. Here's what it means, why it works, and whether it might be right for you.
What Is Buddhist Psychology?
Buddhist psychology refers to the psychological insights embedded within Buddhist philosophy — insights about the nature of the mind, the origins of suffering, and the path toward genuine wellbeing.
These teachings are thousands of years old. But here's the thing: modern neuroscience keeps catching up to what Buddhist psychology figured out a long time ago. The research on mindfulness, compassion, and present-moment awareness consistently supports what contemplative traditions have been saying for centuries.
Buddhist psychology isn't a religion. It's a framework for understanding human experience — one that happens to be incredibly useful in a therapy context.
What Does Buddhist Psychology Actually Say About Suffering?
One of the most liberating ideas in Buddhist psychology is this: suffering is not a character flaw. It's not evidence that something is wrong with you. It's a natural part of being human — and it has understandable causes. AND it’s separate from pain, meaning you have more power than you think over experiencing suffering.
Buddhist psychology identifies three primary sources of suffering:
Clinging. We suffer when we desperately hold on to things — people, experiences, identities, outcomes — that are inherently impermanent. When we grip tightly and things change anyway (which they always do), we suffer.
Aversion. We suffer when we resist, avoid, or push away experiences that are uncomfortable — rather than learning to be with them. Ironically, the more we fight against difficult feelings, the more power they have over us.
Confusion. We suffer when we lose touch with the nature of reality — including our own nature. When we operate on autopilot, driven by unconscious patterns and habitual reactions, we create suffering for ourselves and others.
The good news? All three of these are workable. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is a choice that arises when we fight reality instead of accepting it. That's where therapy comes in.
How Does Buddhist Psychology Inform Therapy?
In a therapy context, Buddhist psychology shows up in a few different ways:
Mindfulness. Mindfulness — the practice of paying deliberate, non-judgmental attention to present-moment experience — comes directly from Buddhist contemplative practice. In therapy, mindfulness helps you develop the capacity to observe your thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them. You create a little space between stimulus and response. That space is where change happens.
Working with impermanence. Buddhist psychology invites us to recognize that everything changes — including the feelings that seem most permanent and overwhelming. That panic attack will pass. That grief will shift. That depression is not a life sentence. Therapy informed by Buddhist psychology helps you develop a more flexible, spacious relationship with your inner experience.
Compassion practices. Buddhism places enormous emphasis on compassion — both for others and for ourselves. Self-compassion, in particular, turns out to be one of the most powerful predictors of psychological wellbeing. Buddhist psychology-informed therapy helps you develop a genuinely kind relationship with yourself — not self-pity, not self-indulgence, but the same warmth you'd offer a good friend who was struggling.
Understanding the self. One of the more challenging — and liberating — ideas in Buddhist psychology is that the fixed, solid self we think we are is more fluid and constructed than it appears. Much of our suffering comes from defending and protecting a self-concept that was never as solid as we believed. Therapy informed by this perspective can help loosen the grip of self-criticism, shame, and rigid self-identity.
Present-moment awareness. So much of human suffering happens in the past (rumination, regret) or the future (anxiety, worry). Buddhist psychology-informed therapy helps you come home to the present — not as a spiritual practice, but as a practical antidote to the mind's tendency to live everywhere but here.
Is Buddhist Psychology Therapy Religious?
No — and this is important.
You do not need to be Buddhist, spiritual, or religious to benefit from this approach. Buddhist psychology therapy doesn't involve prayers, rituals, religious belief, or any requirement to adopt a particular worldview.
It's a psychological approach. The insights happen to come from a contemplative tradition — but they've been thoroughly integrated into modern, evidence-based psychotherapy and validated by contemporary research.
Many of our clients who benefit most from this approach describe themselves as skeptical, secular, or simply "not religious." That's completely fine. What matters is whether the ideas and practices are useful — and for most people, they are.
Who Benefits Most from Buddhist Psychology Therapy?
Buddhist psychology-informed therapy tends to resonate especially with:
People who feel like something deeper is missing. If you've done cognitive work and feel like you've hit a ceiling — like there's something more fundamental underneath the thoughts and behaviors — Buddhist psychology often opens new doors.
People struggling with anxiety. The Buddhist understanding of how clinging and aversion fuel anxiety is remarkably practical and applicable.
People with a harsh inner critic. Self-compassion practices are genuinely transformative for people who are hard on themselves.
People navigating grief or loss. Buddhist psychology's framework around impermanence and attachment offers a wisdom-based way of understanding and moving through loss.
People interested in meaning and purpose. For those asking bigger questions — who am I, what matters, how do I want to live — Buddhist psychology offers a rich philosophical framework.
Long-time meditators who want to bring practice into therapy. If you already have a meditation practice, therapy informed by Buddhist psychology can deepen and integrate that work in powerful ways.
People who are simply curious. You don't need a specific reason. If this approach resonates with you, that's enough.
Buddhist Psychology at Peace of Mind Therapy
Buddhist psychology is one of the things that makes Peace of Mind Therapy genuinely different.
Our founder, Jenna Sackman, spent extensive time in Southeast Asia studying Buddhist psychology, meditation, and mindfulness — and that experience is woven into the fabric of how she works. She has a very successful TikTok account, @jennainsession, with over 16k followers, where she delves into the many transformative ways Buddhist Psychology and wisdom informs mental health and therapy practices. For clients who are drawn to a wisdom-based, contemplative approach to healing, we offer something you won't find in every therapy practice.
We integrate Buddhist psychology with somatic therapy, attachment-based work, CBT, EMDR-informed techniques, and more — creating an approach that's as unique as the person sitting across from us.
We offer telehealth therapy across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. We accept Aetna and Northwell Direct for clients in New York, and offer sliding scale fees and out-of-network billing for all clients. For more information about insurance and fees, click here.
If you're curious about what Buddhist psychology-informed therapy might look like for you — we'd love to talk. Our free 15-minute consultation is a relaxed, no-pressure way to explore whether we're the right fit.
About Peace of Mind Therapy
Peace of Mind Therapy is a holistic, integrative telehealth group practice offering online therapy across New York and New Jersey. We specialize in Buddhist psychology, somatic therapy, EMDR, trauma, anxiety, relationships, and more — with warmth, humor, and genuine human connection.