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

by Franklyn Sills

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Author: Franklyn Sills

Publisher: North Atlantic Books

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1556437625
ISBN 13: 978-1556437625

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.

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.