Caroline Brazier – författare

Ecotherapy in Practice reflects the growing interest and research in this field. Drawing on a diversity of experience from the counselling and psychotherapy professions, but also from practitioners in community work, mental health and education, this book explores the exciting and innovative possibilities involved in practising outdoors. Caroline Brazier brings to bear her experience and knowledge as a psychotherapist, group worker and trainer over several decades to think about therapeutic work outdoors in all its forms. The book presents a model of ecotherapy based on principles drawn from Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapy which focuses particularly on the relationship between person and environment at three levels, moving from the personal level of individual history to cultural influences, then finally to global circumstances, all of which condition mind-states and psychological wellbeing. Ecotherapy in Practice will provide refreshing and valuable reading for psychotherapists and counsellors in the field, those interested in Buddhism, and other mental health and health professionals working outdoors

Ecotherapy in Practice reflects the growing interest and research in this field. Drawing on a diversity of experience from the counselling and psychotherapy professions, but also from practitioners in community work, mental health and education, this book explores the exciting and innovative possibilities involved in practising outdoors. Caroline Brazier brings to bear her experience and knowledge as a psychotherapist, group worker and trainer over several decades to think about therapeutic work outdoors in all its forms. The book presents a model of ecotherapy based on principles drawn from Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapy which focuses particularly on the relationship between person and environment at three levels, moving from the personal level of individual history to cultural influences, then finally to global circumstances, all of which condition mind-states and psychological wellbeing. Ecotherapy in Practice will provide refreshing and valuable reading for psychotherapists and counsellors in the field, those interested in Buddhism, and other mental health and health professionals working outdoors

Western therapeutic approaches have often put considerable emphasis on building self-esteem and enhancing a positive sense of self. This book challenges the assumption behind this approach. Most of us protect ourselves against being fully alive. Because we fear loss and pain, we escape by withdrawing from experiences and distracting ourselves with amusements. We fall into habitual ways of acting and limit our experience to the familiar. We create an identity which we think of as a 'self', and in so doing imprison our life-energy.For 2500 years Buddhism has developed an understanding of the way that we can easily fall into a deluded view. It has shown how the mind clings to false perceptions and tries to create permanence out of an ever changing world. Written by a practising therapist and committed Buddhist, this book explores the practical relevance of Buddhist teachings on psychology to our everyday experience. By letting go of our attachment to self, we open ourselves to full engagement with life and with others. We step out of our self-made prison.

The Pureland schools are the largest Buddhist denominations in Japan, and yet this approach to Buddhism is hardly known in the West. Pureland centres on our relationship with Amida Buddha, the embodiment of measureless love, light and life. It offers a fresh view of spirituality, recognising us in our mundane lives, whilst lifting us into relationship with the eternal. As ordinary people, we cannot fathom our own depths nor can we know the immensity of the universe. We can but stand in awe and reach out to what we intuitively know to be beyond the small orbit of our lives. Pureland is a path of simplicity and beauty, poetry and nature. It is the path of faith.

This book is a journey; an exploration into those areas of life which both fascinate and repel us. Through the weaving together of an account of a group of young people, fine grained analysis of the emotional and ethical basis of guilt, and illustration draw from a variety of life circumstances, the reader is drawn into the complexity of a subject which troubles many people in the modern world. The book deals sensitively with some of the most challenging areas of human experience, confronting the reader with situations in which there are no easy answers. Yet the writing retains a joy in life. At times both humorous and emotive, it reveals the beauty of the everyday and the pathos of the ordinary. A book that crosses boundaries, this is one of the few books on the topic which will have you reading into the small hours of the morning, eager to discover the secret worlds of the characters whose lives illustrate its themes.