‘evenly hovering attention’ that Freud spoke of (Freud 1912/1964:111–12). By
experiencing his or her own deeper, True Nature and opening more fully to the client,
the therapist’s capacity for empathy is enhanced (Fleischman 1999; Lesh 1970; Miller
2001; Rubin 1996; Schuster 1979; Speeth 1982). Fully present listening, in and of
itself, is a form of compassion and unconditional acceptance (Brazier 1995; Rubin
1996; Watson 1996; Welwood 2000). The concentration and mindfulness methods
of Buddhist meditation foster both one-pointed and panoramic attention, an
indispensable skill for therapists (Speeth 1982).
By sitting with his or her own changing mental processes, observing and witnessing
whatever arises and vanishes without identification or judgment, the therapist learns
to sit in a similar way with the client (Watson 1996). Rather than obeying subtle,
learned commitments to particular theories by listening for confirmation of them,
the therapist is enabled to listen to the client’s own idiographic material (Rubin 1996).
Trusting the client’s innate wisdom, True Nature, or the Rogerian ‘actualizing
tendency,’ the therapist is freer of intellectual constraints, theoretical allegiances and
personal agendas (Brazier 1995; Rubin 1996; Watson 1996). Committed to the
treatment but with no attachments to final results or outcomes, the therapist is more
comfortable with the unknown, more open to being surprised, more open to
complexity and ambiguity, and more likely to relate to clients in creative rather than
habitual, stereotyped ways, more likely to tolerate and respect a diversity of
interpersonal and intrapsychic phenomena (Brazier 1995; Rubin 1996; Watson
1996).
By creating and amplifying his or her own inner spaciousness through meditation,
the therapist is more capable of creating a similar spaciousness in the therapy room
where he or she can better flow with the client (Brazier 1995; Rubin 1996; Watson
1996). Such a therapist is engaging in ‘unconditional presence’ or the capacity to be
fully present with a client, without trying to influence or maneuver what the client
or therapist is feeling (Welwood 2000:118). This capacity to be fully involved
moment by moment in the therapy session is much more important than theoretical
allegiances or employment of techniques (Christensen and Rudnick 1999; Watson
1996). Such a therapist is less likely to react to articulated content, rush to solutions,
offer premature interpretations or react to clients’ provocations for projective
identification (Brazier 1995; Welwood 2000). Comfortable with gaps, voids, and
silences, such a therapist is better able to resonate with the client’s pre-articulate,
Gendlinian ‘felt sense,’ to sit with a wide range of emotions, and to notice and
acquiesce in his or her countertransference (Welwood 2000). In this way, the therapist
will be better able to extend that sense of comfort and affect tolerance to his or her
clients (Brazier 1995; Rubin 1996; Watson 1996; Welwood 2000). Zen-inspired
psychotherapy would emphasize a fresh way to be with or relate to experience as it
arises moment by moment (Brazier 1995; Cooper 1999; Watson 1996; Welwood
2000).
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