Mark Epstein before the Buddha-Bar Restaurant Prague

Mark Epstein (born 1953) is an American author and psychotherapist who integrates

Shakyamuni Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

's teachings with

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

's approaches to trauma. He often writes about the interface of Buddhism and psychotherapy.Mark Epstein
''Freud and Buddha''
, '' Network of Spiritual Progressives''

Personal life

Epstein is married to the artist Arlene Shechet and has two children.

Career

Epstein is a graduate of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

. After completing his psychiatry residency at what is now

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospit ...

Weill Cornell Medical Center Weill Cornell Medical Center (; previously known as New York Hospital, Old New York Hospital, and City Hospital) is a research hospital in New York City. It is the teaching hospital for Cornell University's Weill Cornell Medicine, medical school ...

, he entered the private practice of psychiatry in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at

New York University School of Medicine The New York University Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, the other being the NYU G ...

. He was interviewed for segments of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

documentary ''The Buddha''.

Meditation practitioner and author

Epstein went to a Buddhist summer camp in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, where he met his first Buddhist teachers, Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield. In his early 20s, he traveled to Ajahn Chah's forest Buddhist monastery near

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

, together with these teachers as well as with Richard Alpert. He has practiced insight meditation since 1974. He is a contributing editor to '' Tricycle: The Buddhist Review'' and his books include ''Thoughts Without a Thinker'' and ''Going to Pieces without Falling Apart''. Both books deal with the Eastern teachings of non-self.

Quotes

Works

*2022 ''The Zen of Therapy: Uncovering a Hidden Kindness in Life'', The Penguin Press, New York, NY., *2018 ''Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself'', The Penguin Press,New York, NY., *2013 ''The Trauma of Everyday Life'', The Penguin Press, The Penguin Press,New York, NY., *2008 ''Going on Being: Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and Psychotherapy'',

Wisdom Publications The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Gelugpa Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Tibetan Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompas ...

, Somerville, Mass., *2008 ''Psychotherapy Without the Self: A Buddhist Perspective'',

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, New Haven, CT, *2005 ''Open to Desire: The Truth about What the Buddha Taught'', Gotham Books, New York, *1998 ''Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart'',

Broadway Books Broadway Books is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.. It released its first list in Fall 1996. Broadway was founded in 1995 as a unit of Bantam Doubleday Dell, a unit of Bertelsmann. Bertelsmann acquire ...

, New York, *1995 ''Thoughts Without a Thinker: Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective'',

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York City, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and his ...

, New York,

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Mark 1953 births Living people 21st-century American psychologists American psychotherapists American self-help writers American spiritual writers Harvard College alumni Harvard Medical School alumni American writers American scholars of Buddhism 21st-century American Buddhists 20th-century American psychologists