Customer Reviews

Being and Becoming: Psychodynamics, Buddhism, and the Origins of Selfhood

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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.

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.

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.

Being and Becoming is quite technical and iconoclastic in its theories
As a therapist, I feel that we must now integrate all modalities
in treatment. This book really stretches the outer boundaries of current
thinking. I highly recommend it.