title: The Bhagavad Gita and contemporary psychotherapies.
abstract: The Bhagavad Gita is based on a discourse between Lord Krishna and Arjuna at the inception of the Kurukshetra war and elucidates many psychotherapeutic principles. In this article, we discuss some of the parallels between the Gita and contemporary psychotherapies. We initially discuss similarities between psychodynamic theories of drives and psychic structures, and the concept of three gunas. Arjuna under duress exhibits elements of distorted thinking. Lord Krishna helps remedy this through a process akin to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). We ascertain the analogies between the principles of Gita and CBT, grief emancipation, role transition, self-esteem, and motivation enhancement, as well as interpersonal and supportive psychotherapies. We advocate the pragmatic application of age old wisdom of the Gita to enhance the efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions for patients from Indian subcontinent and to add value to the art of western psychotherapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Creighton University School of Medicine, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Subhash C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: Jayakrishna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Madabushi
authors.forename: Venkata
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kolli
authors.forename: Shashi K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Bhatia
authors.forename: Vishal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Madaan
keywords: Bhagavad Gita; grief emancipation therapy; mindfulness; psychodynamic psychotherapy; psychotherapy; supportive psychotherapy