The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: a mutually enriching dialogue.

By R. Walsh, S. Shapiro. American Psychologist, 2006

627 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Meditation is now one of the most enduring, widespread, and researched of all psychotherapeutic methods. However, to date the meeting of the meditative disciplines and Western psychology has been marred by significant misunderstandings and by an assimilative integration in which much of the richness and uniqueness of meditation and its psychologies and philosophies have been overlooked. Also overlooked have been their major implications for an understanding of such central psychological issues as cognition and attention, mental training and development, health and pathology, and psychological capacities and potentials. Investigating meditative traditions with greater cultural and conceptual sensitivity opens the possibility of a mutual enrichment of both the meditative traditions and Western psychology, with far-reaching benefits for both.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Health

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b95d6313f3c9091dd42ac150a389a6a1603e9f6f

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Clinical Psychology

In Cognitive Neuroscience

In Health

Citations in the corpus

CONTRIBUTION OF SELF-COMPASSION TO COMPETENCE AND MENTAL HEALTH IN SOCIAL WORK STUDENTS (2009, background): “Only recently has it come to the attention of Western scientists (Goleman, 1997; neff, 2003a; Walsh & Shapiro, 2006) and been operationalized for the purpose of empirical investigation (neff, 2003b).”
Towards a positive cross-cultural lexicography: Enriching our emotional landscape through 216 ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being (2016, background): “Finally, there is a corollary assumption that Western psychology has little to learn from psychological constructs and models developed within non-Western cultures (with some exceptions, like the burgeoning enthusiasm for mindfulness and other Buddhist-derived concepts (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006)).”
Self-Centeredness and Selflessness: A Theory of Self-Based Psychological Functioning and Its Consequences for Happiness (2011, background): “…& Davidson, 2007; Davidson et al., 2003; Ekman et al., 2005; Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, & Davidson, 2004; Lutz, Lachaux, Martinière, & Varela, 2002; Lutz, Slagter, Rawling, Francis, Greishar, & Davidson, 2009; Rosch, 1999; Shapiro & Walsh, 2003; Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).”
Indigenous and Cultural Psychology: Understanding People in Context (2007, background): “(Walsh and Shapiro 2006) described some of the psychological potentials of what Maslow called “the farther reaches of human nature.”
Contemplation in the Classroom: a New Direction for Improving Childhood Education (2015, background): “Enthusiasm for these practices is based in large part on research with adults, which has now demonstrated that contemplative practices can improve aspects of self-regulation, including attentional control, emotion regulation (Ortner et al. 2007; Walsh and Shapiro 2006), and perspective taking (Baer ”
Toward the Integration of Meditation into Higher Education: A Review of Research Evidence (2011, background): “(p. 34) Education of the whole person is in alignment with the traditional values of meditative practice, which include the cultivation of creativity, positive social relationships, compassion for self and others, and empathy (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).”
Intensive mindfulness training-related changes in cognitive and emotional experience (2009, positive): “First, does intensive mindfulness training have mental health benefits, as mindfulness-based therapies have shown? Second, if such benefits accrue in intensive training, are they limited to psychological symptoms (the focus of most mental health-relevant mindfulness research to date) or do benefits ”
The psychological effects of meditation: a meta-analysis. (2012, background): “There have long been attempts to bring together meditation and psychotherapy (e.g., Coster, 1934), and over time, meditation has become an established psychotherapeutic technique (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).”
Mental balance and well-being: building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. (2006, background): “There are numerous promising avenues for future research in developing a partnership between modern science and Buddhism (S. L. Shapiro & Walsh, 2003; Walsh & Shapiro, 2006).”
Mindfulness-based interventions in the workplace: An inclusive systematic review and meta-analysis of their impact upon wellbeing (2018, background): “For instance, Walsh and Shapiro (2006) define meditation as ‘a family of selfregulation practices that focus on training attention”
Performance-Based Tests of Attention and Memory in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators and Demographically Matched Nonmeditators (2012, background): “In the Eastern traditions in which mindfulness originates, the regular practice of meditation is viewed as a lifelong pursuit in which mindfulness is cultivated over many years ( Walsh and Shapiro 2006 ).”
The impact of mindfulness on the wellbeing and performance of educators: A systematic review of the empirical literature (2017, background): “For instance, Walsh and Shapiro (2006) define meditation as “a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby foster general mental well-being” (pp. 228e229).”
Mindfulness: What Is It? Where Did It Come From? (2009, background): “Meditation is now one of the most widely studied psychotherapeutic methods (Walsh & Shapiro, 2006)—although, admittedly, many of the studies have design limitations (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2007).”