Being and Becoming: Psychodynamics, Buddhism, and the Origins of Selfhood [Paperback]

Franklyn Sills (Author), Maura Sills (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: September 23, 2008

Being and Becoming is a wide-ranging analysis of the nature of being and selfhood. The book presents an original, integrated paradigm with the aim of creating a comprehensive overview of the human condition—and finding ways to alleviate suffering. In essence, the book explores the question, “What does it mean to be?”

Being and Becoming begins with fresh interpretations of the work of Martin Heidegger and Buddhist, Taoist, and Christian writings as they relate to this question. Most of Being and Becoming, however, is about the nature of self and selfhood as a process of “I-am-this,” “my becoming” rather than “my being.” Author Franklyn Sills interweaves concepts from object relations theories, psychodynamics, pre- and perinatal psychology, and Buddhist self-psychology, along with his own rich experience as a Buddhist monk, somatic therapist, and psychotherapist, into his inquiry. The works of Fairbairn and Winnicott are discussed in depth, as are Winnicott and Stern’s insights into the nature of the early holding environment, the infant-mother relational field, and early perceptual dynamics. A thoughtful guide for psychologists, therapists, counselors, and other health professionals, the book is also ideal for Buddhists and anyone looking for alternative therapy models.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In Being and Becoming, Franklyn Sills offers us a wonderful synthesis of Western developmental concepts and Buddhist psychology. He presents an integrated paradigm for understanding the nature and development of selfhood and the suffering involved in its dynamics. He also stresses the importance of developing a state of being, one of moment-to-moment awareness, as the key to alleviating personal and interpersonal suffering.… A true guide through this multifaceted territory for clinician and layperson alike.”
—James low, consultant psychotherapist at Guy’s Hospital, London, and author of Being Right Here
 
“Franklyn Sills is a true pioneer—working in fields that can seem so different yet just yearn to come together in intelligent and comprehensible ways: psychotherapy, Buddhism, and perinatal psychology. The result is an almost unimaginably moving synthesis that is, at the same time, usable in a down-to-earth way by clinicians from diverse backgrounds and in a variety of settings.… Sills wears his immense learning lightly and is an affable and empathic guide into some difficult and mysterious areas of human experience, suffering, and joy.”
—Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, University of Essex, U.K., Visiting Clinical Professor of Psychoanalysis, New York University, and author of The Plural Psyche: Personality, Morality and the Father
 
“Franklyn’s work, drawing together the insights of Buddhism and the understanding of psychotherapy, encourages each individual to bring their spirituality into the healing process. In this book, he draws on a lineage of analysts, psychotherapists, and Buddhist masters, as well as his own years of fieldwork to provide an in-depth and pragmatic guide. His writing forms a very solid, pragmatic, and technically sound exhortation to workers in the field to develop their compassion, their mindfulness and sensitivity, rather than just see patients through the lens of a textbook.”
—Ajahn Sucitto, Abbot of Chithurst Monastery, Petersfield, U.K.
 
“Sills draws on a lineage of masters from many modalities: analysts, psychotherapists, Buddhist masters, as well as from the field of perinatal psychology, and his own many years of fieldwork… Sills considers therapy and the resolution of suffering as a reclamation of sorts, a return to our inherent spirituality. Based upon this experiential idea, he has constructed an in-depth and pragmatic guide for therapists wishing to develop their compassion, mindfulness, and sensitivity, and more effectively restore their clients to a sense of spiritual well-being.”
—Keeping in Touch, The United States Association for Body Psychotherapy

About the Author

Franklyn Sills is the co-director of the Karuna Institute, and has pioneered trainings in Craniosacral Biodynamics and Core Process Psychotherapy. Engaged in an ambitious project to integrate Buddhist self-psychology with Western object relations and developmental theories, he lives in Devon, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (September 23, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556437625
• ISBN-13: 978-1556437625
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #756,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The health that underlies human experience June 7, 2009

By Gary Peterson

Format:Paperback

At the very onset of Being and Becoming, Franklyn Sills reveals the understanding that consistently forms the center of his writing about various therapeutic models, from Polarity Therapy to Craniosacral Therapy to psychotherapy. He explains, "At the root of our human condition, at the core of our very being, we are already free and fully realized." He describes our basic nature as an "inherent state of freedom and luminosity" and in the same breath laments that "its obscuration is the plight of our human condition."

As I read Being and Becoming, I was struck by way these simple and profound opening statements echoed again and again through the whole of this integrative work. Being and Becoming is an ambitious effort: a synthesis of Buddhist awareness, psychotherapy, and the emerging field of pre and perinatal psychology.

Citing especially the work of Frank Lake, Donald Winnicott and Ronald Fairbairn, and noting the similarities to Buddhist self-psychology, Franklyn Sills explores the significance of our earliest experiences in forming a self-construct (personality). From each of these perspectives he finds common threads that illuminate the central dilemma of the human condition: early wounding results in a complex layering of defense strategies and other compensations that contribute to our fragmentation and suffering, and obscure our awareness of our original nature.

Franklyn Sills is at the forefront of a paradigm shift in therapeutic process, a shift that compels therapists of all disciplines to become mindful of both the inherent health and the conditionality within each of us, and of the commonality shared by therapist and client. He concludes in much the same manner as he began, stating that "the therapist's journey and process is not separate from the client's. Nor is their spiritual nature different....It is within the joint nature of therapeutic endeavor that a cohesiveness of being may be reclaimed and a mutual connection to Source directly experienced."

I found Being and Becoming to be extremely useful in increasing my awareness of early experience, and in prompting a deeper, ongoing process of self-reflection and self-inquiry. I highly recommend it to anyone in the broad field of therapeutic work.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars the wider context of being and becoming a therapist May 12, 2009

By jf dynamicstillness

Format:Paperback

Franklyn Sills has written a cutting edge and insightful book that dovetails together Buddhism, psychotherapy and pre and perinatal psychology in an easy to understand format. No mean feat!

The modality of core process psychotherapy radically opens up the therapeutic dialogue and does not veer away from asking the difficult questions about how we generate suffering both for ourselves and others, and how we all contribute to the fragmentation and disconnection that is endemic in our culture.

As a craniosacral therapist, this view resonates well with the cranial concept that there is intrinsic health within the deepest suffering and wounding. Even though this book is not targeted to those outside of the psychological professions, I found it of immense value in helping to broaden my appreciation and understanding of the subltle intricacies and complexities of being and becoming a therapist. I feel sure that therapists in other disciplines would gain great benefit from reading this book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for psychotherapists who work with psychospiritual issues August 28, 2009

By Julian C. Cowan Hill

Format:Paperback

In this work Franklin Sills combines a depth of understanding and awareness that comes from years of Buddhist practice, scholarship and enquiry,
with many thousands of hours experience helping people come to terms with their suffering.
As a trainee Core Process Psychotherapist, this book not only distills most elements of the Karuna Institute's training in one manual,
but also brings me back to the most essential qualities of useful therapy, namely:

being grounded in embodied awareness
daring to stay present and open to being affected by clients
how to stay present and not to split off into cerebral analysis

This is a challenging skill which I believe is essential for psycho-spiritual work.
On a deeper level this work touches into a lineage of wisdom and transmits the kind of holding that psycho-spiritual practitioners need.

I recommend this highly for any psychotherapist working with clients experiencing spiritual crisis, existential anguish or trying to find meaning in life.