Taoist Self-Enlightenment Psychotherapy

This chapter introduces Taoist Self-Enlightenment Psychotherapy (TSEP) and has three sections. The chapter first elucidates a brief biography of I-Ching (Book of Changes), the core wisdom and knowledge to Taoism. The second section, on the basis of I-Ching, a self-enlightenment cultivating process aims to minimize or extinguish the desiring self, leading to self-nature state ( Open image in new window ), the unity of the self and Heaven ( Open image in new window ). Taoist Self-Enlightenment Model (TSEM), which is the theoretic foundation of TSEP, presents a four-level Unity of the Self and Heaven Theory, involving accomplishment of the self-cultivation principle with the aim of achieving an insightful transformation related to the perception that the sense of desiring self and the associated psychological structures are eliminated to attain the self-nature state, the unity of the self and Heaven. The first layer of the model presents the eight types of behavioral expressions of self, echoing the bagua symbols ( Open image in new window ). The second layer applies Mandala Model of Self (MMS) to represent the four image symbols ( Open image in new window ) of Book of Changes. The third layer presents the united opposite selves evolving from the Yin and Yang symbols (liang yi, Open image in new window ). In this layer, a self is constricted by two kinds of confrontations derived from MMS, leading to an opposite but united dynamic state. The last layer is the unity of the self and Heaven derived from the Tai Chi symbol ( Open image in new window ). This self cultivating process includes facing original desires, cultivating desire by way of obeying the Heaven’s rules, minimizing the desire to meet, and increasing the realization of altruism or compassion. In the third section, the requirements for a therapist, therapeutic goal, client–therapist relationships, therapeutic process, and techniques are addressed. The techniques include Taoist wisdom and emotional disturbance assessment, Taoist meditation (Qigong, Open image in new window ), 9 Taoist good deeds, and teaching Taoist wisdom. Chinese Taoist Cognitive Psychotherapy and Virtue Existential Career Counseling Model based on Taoism are described. The relationship between Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) and Taoism is described. Finally, the book of Chuang Tzu ( Open image in new window ) that can be used as the instruction to teaching Taoist wisdom is provided.