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a course in miracles
February 2009 
Nondual Therapy
Posted on Jul 21st, 2007
by 
Billy
Billy
I have recently been trying to determine what exactly is meant by the term "nondual" therapy. Having studied it for a while now, I feel that this approach to therapy suits me and my style more than any other. However, I have had a hard time describing it to others when they ask me what it is all about. Part of the problem is that we are dealing with words and concepts and the nondual approach is non-conceptual.
To help me with this I read through one of my favorite books on nondual therapy called The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy. I typed up many of my favorite quotes from this book and looked for themes and similar ideas. I also drew from my experience with The Work of Byron Katie and more recently with Yoga Nidra as taught by Richard Miller. I then took into consideration much of what I have learned from A Course in Miracles and the suppliment to the Course called Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice. Here is what I have come up with so far:
My Definition of Nondual Therapy
To help me with this I read through one of my favorite books on nondual therapy called The Sacred Mirror: Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy. I typed up many of my favorite quotes from this book and looked for themes and similar ideas. I also drew from my experience with The Work of Byron Katie and more recently with Yoga Nidra as taught by Richard Miller. I then took into consideration much of what I have learned from A Course in Miracles and the suppliment to the Course called Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice. Here is what I have come up with so far:
My Definition of Nondual Therapy
The goal of nondual therapy is to discover who we are without our stories and to expand our capacity to embody True Nature - Welcoming, Spacious Awareness - in every aspect of our lives.
Nondual therapy is rooted in the assumption that our perception of "problems" is itself the problem (which really isn't a problem). The self-improvement project is a subtle form of self-directed aggression. Who we are does not need improving.
By de-constructing our "self and world construct system" (James Bugental's term) we are able to uncover underlying, unchanging equanimity, or Presence, and strengthen our capacity to embody Awareness in our day-to-day existence.
This therapeutic process occurs in a certain type of relationship - a "holy encounter" in which what is awake in the therapist meets what is awake in the client - thus healing the client's (and therapist's) perception of self, other and world.
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