If you’re drawn to this page, there’s probably something about Buddhist ideas — impermanence, compassion, the nature of suffering — that resonates with how you think about your own experience. Maybe you have a meditation practice. Maybe you’ve read about Buddhist philosophy and found it clarifying. Or maybe you’re simply looking for a therapist whose approach goes deeper than symptom management and speaks to the fundamental questions of how to live well.
In my practice, Buddhist psychology isn’t a separate treatment — it’s a lens that informs how I understand suffering, attachment, and change. It integrates naturally with my clinical work, enriching the therapeutic process without replacing evidence-based methods. This perspective is woven into my broader individual therapy practice.
Therapy informed by contemplative wisdom can reach places that purely cognitive approaches sometimes miss.
Schedule a free consultation →What Buddhist Psychology Brings to Therapy
Buddhist psychology offers a remarkably sophisticated understanding of the mind — one that Western psychology has increasingly recognized as both clinically relevant and empirically supported. At its core is the insight that suffering arises not from our experiences themselves but from our relationship to those experiences: the ways we cling to pleasure, resist pain, and construct rigid narratives about who we are and what we need.
In therapy, this translates into a different kind of attention to your inner life. Rather than trying to eliminate difficult emotions or replace negative thoughts with positive ones, I help you develop a more spacious, curious relationship with whatever arises. You learn to observe your patterns of reactivity — the habitual ways you avoid discomfort, grasp at control, or lose yourself in rumination — without being governed by them.
Key concepts from Buddhist psychology that show up in the work include impermanence (recognizing that all mental states are temporary, which can transform your relationship to anxiety and depression), interdependence (understanding that your sense of self is relational and fluid, not fixed), and compassion (developing genuine kindness toward yourself as a foundation for change, rather than using self-criticism as a motivator).
How This Shows Up in the Work
This isn’t Buddhism class — it’s therapy. The Buddhist psychology lens shows up in how I pay attention, not in what we talk about. You might notice it in the way I slow down to observe what’s happening in your body during a difficult moment, or in how I explore your relationship to a painful emotion rather than immediately trying to fix it. You might notice it in the emphasis on self-compassion as a practice rather than an idea, or in the way I treat your symptoms as messengers rather than enemies.
For people who already have a contemplative practice, therapy can deepen that work by addressing the psychological material that meditation alone sometimes can’t reach — relational wounds, attachment patterns, deeply held beliefs about worthiness. For people who are new to these ideas, the Buddhist psychology framework can offer a refreshingly different way of understanding what you’re going through. You may also be interested in reading about my approach to mindfulness-based therapy, which shares much of this foundation.
This approach is particularly well-suited for people dealing with existential concerns, chronic self-criticism, anxiety rooted in a need for control, grief and loss, life transitions, and the kind of pervasive dissatisfaction that doesn’t have an obvious cause but colors everything.
Ancient wisdom and modern clinical skill aren't opposites — they're partners. Let me put them to work for you.
Schedule a free consult →What Therapy Looks Like
Sessions are weekly and last 53 minutes. The work is conversational and experiential — we might explore a relational pattern, sit with a difficult feeling, or examine an assumption that’s been operating outside your awareness. There’s no requirement that you have any background in Buddhism or meditation. What matters is your willingness to look at your experience with honesty and curiosity. I have studied Buddhist psychology extensively and integrate it with psychodynamic, attachment-based, and mindfulness approaches.
Practical Details
I’m located in Pittsburgh and also offer online sessions throughout Pennsylvania. This is a private-pay practice, and evening and Sunday appointments are available. If you’re curious about whether this approach would be a good fit, a free consultation is the easiest way to find out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be Buddhist to benefit from Buddhist psychology in therapy?
Not at all. Buddhist psychology offers insights into how the mind works and how suffering develops that are valuable for anyone, regardless of your beliefs or spiritual tradition. Some of my clients are Buddhist practitioners, but others are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, atheist, or agnostic. What matters is whether these principles resonate with you and help you understand your experience better. Buddhist psychology is less about religion and more about a pragmatic understanding of how our minds create unnecessary suffering, and how we can work with that. Think of it like yoga—you can do yoga for physical fitness without any spiritual belief. You can use these psychological tools for mental health and better relationships without adopting Buddhist beliefs.
How does Buddhist psychology relate to therapy, and what’s different about this approach?
Buddhist psychology offers a sophisticated map of how the mind works. It emphasizes that most of our suffering comes not from external circumstances, but from how we relate to those circumstances—our resistance, our clinging, our habitual patterns of thinking. In therapy, this translates to looking closely at the habits of mind that create your distress, rather than just changing your behavior or circumstances. I look at how you habitually react to difficult emotions, how you relate to thoughts and feelings, where you’re clinging to things that can’t be held, and where you’re resisting what is. Together, we build capacity to be present with difficult experience rather than always trying to escape it. What’s different is the emphasis on understanding the architecture of your suffering, and developing a different quality of mind—one that’s less reactive and more aware. That’s the ground from which lasting change emerges.
Is Buddhist psychology in therapy a religious approach, or is this secular?
It’s both, depending on how you approach it. The psychological principles themselves are secular—they’re based on observations about how the mind works, not on faith or dogma. You don’t have to believe anything religious to benefit from them. That said, Buddhist philosophy does emerge from a spiritual tradition, and it touches on existential and meaning-making questions that therapy sometimes avoids. Some clients appreciate that deeper dimension. Others just want the practical tools for reducing suffering and improving relationships. I’m comfortable working with either approach. I won’t push spiritual beliefs on you, and I also won’t strip away the existential richness if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s collaborative—I work with what resonates with you.
How does mindfulness fit into this approach?
Mindfulness is central to Buddhist psychology in therapy, but it’s more than meditation. Mindfulness is the capacity to be present with what’s actually happening, without the filter of judgment, reactivity, or habitual avoidance. In therapy, I help cultivate this capacity with you. You might learn formal meditation practice if that appeals to you, but I also focus on mindfulness in daily life—noticing when you’re lost in worries about the future, bringing attention back to what’s actually true right now, observing your thoughts and emotions without being controlled by them. This changes your relationship with difficult experiences. Instead of believing your anxious thoughts are facts, or being flooded by emotions, you can observe them with some space. That capacity—to be present without reactivity—is where real change happens. It’s not about feeling better immediately. It’s about developing a different way of being with your life as it actually is.
What kind of issues can Buddhist psychology in therapy help with?
This approach is helpful for anxiety, depression, relationship conflict, perfectionism, grief, existential concerns, and really any suffering that involves your relationship to experience. It’s particularly valuable if you notice you get caught in thought patterns, if emotions overwhelm you, if you struggle with acceptance, or if you’re seeking something deeper than symptom relief—if you want to understand yourself and your life more fully. It’s also powerful for people navigating spiritual questions or existential concerns. That said, this approach works alongside other therapeutic methods. If you have severe trauma, I might combine Buddhist psychology with trauma-focused work. If you have patterns to change, I might bring in behavioral tools. The framework is flexible and integrative—Buddhist psychology provides the foundation, and I bring in whatever else serves your healing.
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