Leandra Robertshaw, Rev. Master

I came to monastic training after 20 years working in the British National Health Service as a clinical psychologist/psychotherapist. During half this time I was also practicing within our tradition of Sōtō Zen and often found myself contemplating the seeming overlap between the spiritual path and psychology. From some perspectives there were similarities but from others the differences were stark and important not to gloss over in an “it’s all the same really” sort of stance. I was aware of tendencies both to exaggerate similarities or to deny any resonance. I no longer remember with any clarity what conclusions, if any, I came to earlier but here are some of my current thoughts.

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