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Deconstructing the Self:

A Buddhist perspective on addiction and psychotherapeutic treatment
(By Ven. Edo Shonin, Ven. William Van Gordon, and Dr. Mark Griffiths)

Psychological approaches to treating mental illness or improving psychological
wellbeing are invariably based on the explicit or implicit acceptance that there is an
inherently existing self or I entity. In other words, irrespective of whether a
cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic, or humanistic psychotherapy model is
employed, these approaches are ultimately concerned with changing how the I
relates to its thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and/or to its physical, social, and spiritual
environment. Although each of these psychotherapeutic modalities have been
shown to have utility for improving psychological health, there are inevitably
limitations to their effectiveness and there will always be those individuals for whom
they are incompatible. Given such limitations, research continuously attempts to
identify and empirically validate more effective, acceptable and/or diverse treatment
approaches. One such approach gaining momentum is the use of techniques that
derive from Buddhist contemplative practice. Although mindfulness is arguably the
most popular and empirically researched example, there is also growing interest into
the psychotherapeutic applications of Buddhisms non-self ontological standpoint
(in which ontology is basically the philosophical study of the nature or essence of
being, existence, or reality).
Within Buddhism, the term non-self refers to the realisation that the self or
the I is absent of intrinsic existence (Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths, 2014a). On
first inspection, this might seem to be a somewhat abstract concept but it is actually
common sense and the principle of non-self is universal in its application. For
example, Buddhism teaches that the human body comprises the five elements of
water, wind (i.e., air), earth (i.e., food), sun (i.e., heat/energy), and space (i.e., in the
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bodily cavities and between molecules, etc.) (Shonin et al., 2014a). This means that
although the body exists in the relative sense, it does not exist in the absolute sense
because the body cannot be isolated from all of its contributing causes. Just as a
wave does not exist in separation from the ocean, the body does not exist in
separation from all other phenomena. According to the Buddhist teachings, when
looking at the body, we should also be able to see the trees, plants, animals, clouds,
oceans, planets, and so forth (Shonin et al., 2014a). Thus, the body, and indeed the
entire array of animate and inanimate phenomena that we know of, cannot be found
to exist intrinsically or independently.
The Buddhist teachings go on to assert that suffering, including the entire
spectrum of distressing emotions and psychopathologic states (including addiction),
results from adhering to a false view about the ultimate manner in which the self
(and reality more generally) exists. As a means of operationalising this notion within
Western psychological and clinical domains, we recently introduced the concept of
ontological addiction. Ontological addiction can effectively be considered a new
category of addiction (i.e., in addition to what are typically called chemical addictions
and behavioural addictions) and is defined as the unwillingness to relinquish an erroneous
and deep-rooted belief in an inherently existing self or I as well as the impaired functionality
that arises from such a belief (Shonin, Van Gordon, & Griffiths, 2013, p.64). Due to a
firmly-embedded (yet scientifically and logically implausible) belief that the self is an
inherent and independently existing entity, Buddhism asserts that afflictive mental
states arise as a result of the imputed self incessantly craving after objects it
considers to be attractive or harbouring aversion towards objects it considers to be
unattractive (Shonin et al., 2014a).
In Buddhist terminology, this process is known as attachment and it is
deemed to be an undesirable quality that reinforces ontological addiction. We have
previously defined attachment as the over-allocation of cognitive and emotional resources
towards a particular object, construct, or idea to the extent that the object is assigned an attractive
quality that is unrealistic and that exceeds its intrinsic worth (Shonin et al., 2014a, p.4). Thus,
attachment takes on a different meaning in Buddhism in relation to its construction
in Western psychology where attachment (i.e., in the context of relationships) is
generally considered to exert a protective influence over psychopathology.
Having understood from a Buddhist perspective that attachment (and
harbouring an erroneous belief in an inherently existing self) is not advisable for
adaptive psycho-spiritual functioning, Buddhism teaches that the next step towards
recovery from ontological addiction is to embrace non-self and begin
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deconstructing our mistaken belief regarding the existence of an I. Based on this
Buddhist approach, a number of novel psychotherapeutic techniques have recently
been developed that integrate meditative practices aimed at cultivating an
understanding of the non-self construct. For example, Buddhist Group Therapy
(BGT) is a six-week program that has been shown to be effective for treating anxiety
and depression (Rungreangkulkij, Wongtakee, & Thongyot, 2011). Another example
is Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), an eight-week secular program that, in a
number of separately published studies, has been shown to be an effective treatment
for individuals with anxiety and depression, schizophrenia, pathological gambling,
workaholism, work-related stress, and fibromyalgia (e.g., see reviews by Shonin et
al., 2013, 2014a, 2014b).
From a mechanistic point of view, greater awareness of non-self is believed
to assist in gradually uprooting egoistic core beliefs and can complement therapeutic
techniques that work at the surface level of behaviour and cognition (Chan, 2008).
Furthermore, an understanding of non-self can enhance therapeutic core conditions
because the more the therapist understands non-self, the less likelihood that the therapy will be
about the selfhood of the therapist (Segall, 2003, p.173).
For some, Buddhist concepts such as non-self may be difficult to conceptually
grasp and reflect what might be seen as a paradigm shift when compared with well-
established Western psychological beliefs regarding the ego and the self. As such,
psychotherapists will carefully need to assess the suitability of utilising non-self
meditative techniques for their own clients. Although further empirical evaluation
of these new approaches is required, preliminary findings indicate that techniques
aimed at cultivating an awareness of the Buddhist non-self construct may have
applications in psychotherapy settings.
Ven. Edo Shonin, Ven. William Van Gordon, and Dr. Mark Griffiths
References
Chan, W. S. (2008). Psychological attachment, no-self and Chan Buddhist mind
therapy. Contemporary Buddhism, 9, 253-264.
Rungreangkulkij, S., Wongtakee, W., & Thongyot, S. (2011). Buddhist Group
Therapy for diabetes patients with depressive symptoms. Archives of Psychiatric
Nursing, 25, 195-205.
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Segall, S. R. (2003). Psychotherapy practice as Buddhist practice. In S. R. Segall (Ed.),
Encountering Buddhism: Western Psychology and Buddhist Teachings (pp. 165-178). New
York: State University of New York Press.
Shonin, E., Van Gordon W., & Griffiths, M. D. (2013). Buddhist philosophy for the
treatment of problem gambling. Journal of Behavioural Addictions, 2, 63-71.
Shonin, E., Van Gordon W., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014a). The emerging role of
Buddhism in clinical psychology: Towards effective integration. Psychology of
Religion and Spirituality, doi: 10.1037/a0035859.
Shonin, E., Van Gordon W., & Griffiths, M. D. (2014b). Mindfulness as a treatment
for behavioral addiction. Journal of Addiction Research and Therapy, 5, e122. doi:
10.4172/2155-6105.1000e122.