This essential book critically examines the various ways in which Eastern spiritual traditions have been typically stripped of their spiritual roots, content and context, to be more readily assimilated into secular Western frames of Psychology. Beginning with the colonial histories of Empire, the author draws from the 1960s Counterculture and the subsequent romanticising and idealising of the East. Cohen explores how Hindu, Buddhist and Daoist traditions have been gradually transformed into forms of Psychology, Psychotherapy and Self-Help, undergoing processes of ‘modernisation’ and secularisation until their respective cosmologies had been successfully reinterpreted and reimagined. An important component of this psychologisation is the accompanying commodification of Eastern spiritual practices, including the mass-marketing of mindfulness and meditation as part of the burgeoning well-being industry. Also presenting emerging voices of resistance from within Eastern spiritual traditions, the book ends with a chapter on Transpersonal Psychology, showing a path for how to gradually move away from colonisation and towards collaboration. Engaging with the ‘mindfulness movement’ and other practices assimilated by Western culture, this is fascinating reading for students and academics in psychology, philosophy and religious studies, as well as mindfulness practitioners.

This Handbook provides a comprehensive look at the educational scope of life and values that characterize 21st-century Asia, as well as those values shared across cultures. Some values are deeply resonant with the region’s past while others reflect modernity and the new contexts in which Asian societies find themselves. Exploring these values of different types and the way they are constructed in Eastern and Western contexts, the contributors delve into the diversity of religious, moral and social education to promote greater understanding across cultures. While a range of values is identified here, there is no single set of values that can be applied to all people in all contexts. The time has long gone, even for single societies, when values can be imposed. Yet this Handbook emphasizes both the extent and importance of values to individuals and their societies—how they respond to these values may provide the key to better and more caring societies and to better lives for all. Academics and teachers will find this Handbook resourceful because it raises important theoretical issues related to social values and their formation in distinctive contexts and provides novel insights into the diverse educational landscape in Asia. Policymakers and educators will also find this text helpful in learning to think about new ways to improve the quality of people’s lives.

Helps counselors-in-training develop their sense of identity as advocates and seekers of social justice Distinguished by a potent social justice and multicultural perspective, this comprehensive introductory text for counselors-in-training delivers foundational concepts through the lens of advocacy and intersectionality. This book emphasizes exploration of the individual and collective effect of local, national, and global social issues on clients and their communities, and imparts real world experiences from authors and clinical experts who provide personal accounts of challenges and successes in their practices. The text examines key evidence-based counseling theories with an in-depth focus on trauma-informed counseling and prompts reflection and dialogue about critical issues in counselor development. It introduces specific counseling micro-skills, techniques, and modalities and describes the varied settings in which counselors can practice. Engaging activities that foster self-analysis and self-actualization illuminate the path to becoming a professional counselor. Chapters encompass several features that promote high-level thinking and reinforce understanding of content. These include reflection exercises that relate chapter content to individual counselor identity, learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, Voices from the Field to bring counseling to life, Call to Action features to help students put learning into action, case studies, Group Process activities, and additional resources. Abundant instructor activities include Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, PowerPoints, and recorded video podcasts. Key Features: Addresses the foundations of counseling through the perspective of multiculturalism, advocacy, social justice, and intersectionality Emphasizes understanding of the individual and collective effect of social issues on clients and their communities Includes recorded interviews with clinical experts and Voices from the Field Weaves the concept of trauma-informed counseling throughout Covers such trending topics as telemental health, the influence of climate change, psychedelic assisted therapies, and the effect of social media on counseling, and neuroscience Offers engaging self-actualization and reflection activities to enhance counselor training Each chapter includes learning objectives, Call to Action features, Think About This reflection exercises, Group Process activities, case studies, and more Offers an abundant ancillaries package including Instructor’s Manual, Test Bank, chapter PowerPoints, and video podcasts

Assembling original contributions, this book is a pioneering attempt to address the Euro-American esoteric reception and appropriation of China. Positioned between eighteenth-century's mesmerism and intersections with the modern martial arts current, the contributions specifically centre on nineteenth and early twentieth-century occult appraisals and representations. This book opens up an under-explored area of research in the field of East–West interactions and the global history of religions.

Based on extensive original research, this book explores the history and current revival of Buddhism on the Indonesian island of Java. Beginning by tracing how Buddhism came to Java from India via southeast Asia, it considers how Buddhism has survived and adapted as Islam and Christianity became dominant. It goes on to report on detailed anthropological research both in a remote highland community, Temanggung, and in Java’s main cities including Jakarta, showing how youth activism and close community cohesion have brought about revival. It includes an examination of the production of Buddhist wayside shrines. Throughout it shows how Buddhism in Java has fused with local traditional practices, local circumstances and trans-national processes to form a unique Javanese Buddhism.

Grounded in trauma-informed approaches, intersectionality theory, and critical race theory, Trauma-Informed Psychotherapy for BIPOC Communities: Decolonizing Mental Health embodies psychotherapeutic practices via anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and culturally responsive paradigms. Complete with practical case studies, psychoeducational frameworks, and the author’s own inclusion and healing therapy (IHT) model, content from this book inspires practitioners to update their therapeutic competencies to effectively support BIPOC clients. This book is an essential read for current and future intersectional psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, counsellors, lawyers, educators, and healthcare professionals who actively work with BIPOC communities.

Providing a genuinely full guide to the theory and methods related to religious studies, this text - written entirely by world-renowned specialists - is the ideal resource for those studying the discipline.

The Hindu-derived meditation movement, The Art of Living (AOL), founded in 1981 by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in Bangalore, has grown into a global organization which claims presence in more than 150 countries. Stephen Jacobs presents the first comprehensive study of AOL as an important transnational movement and an alternative global spirituality. Exploring the nature and characteristics of spirituality in the contemporary global context, Jacobs considers whether alternative spiritualities are primarily concerned with individual wellbeing and can simply be regarded as another consumer product. The book concludes that involvement in movements such as AOL is not necessarily narcissistic but can foster a sense of community and inspire altruistic activity.

From khat to kava to ketamine, drugs are constitutive parts of cultures, identities, economies and livelihoods. This much-needed book is a clear introduction to the anthropology of drugs, providing a cutting-edge and accessible overview of the topic. The authors examine and assess the following key topics: How drugs feature in anthropology and the work of anthropologists and the general role of drugs in society Comparison between biochemical and pharmacological approaches to drugs and bio-socio-cultural models of understanding drugs Evolutionary origins of psychotropic drug sensitivity and archaeological evidence for the spread of psychoactive substances in pre-history Drugs in spiritual and religions contexts, considering their role in altered states of consciousness, divination and healing Stimulant drugs and the ambivalence with which they are treated in society Addiction and dependency Drug economies, livelihoods and the production and distribution segments of drug commodity chains Drug policies and drug wars Drugs, race and gender The future of the study of drugs and anthropological professional engagements with solving drug problems With the inclusion of chapter summaries and many examples, further reading and case studies – including drug tourism, drug industries in the Philippines and Mexico, Afghanistan and the ‘Golden Triangle’ and the opioid crisis in North America – The Anthropology of Drugs is an ideal introduction for those coming to the topic for the first time, and also for those working in the professional and health sectors. It will be of interest to students of anthropology and to those in related disciplines including sociology, psychology, health studies and religion.