Psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Buddhist Meditation

‘Mindfulness has invaded the mental health space over the last two decades and helped to shape the idea of wellbeing. We desperately need a critical appraisal of how the invader has been able to colonise us so successfully, what the consequences of this colonisation might be and how to fight back where needed. Tullio Giraldi's book has come right on time.’

— David Healy MD, Bangor University, UK, author of Pharmageddon


‘Professor Giraldi does a masterful job of contextualising this trend by examining all aspects, from its history to its evidence base, and manages to situate it in the broader cultural milieu of contemporary Western commodification. I thoroughly recommend this enjoyable book, to scholars and lay readers alike who have an interest in this subject.’


— Sami Timimi, Child Psychiatrist, Visiting Professor at the University of Lincoln, UK, and author



‘Chronicling the history of mindfulness, Giraldi unpacks andcritically examines the scientific claims of mindfulness-based interventions, calling into question the current mechanistic and reductionist applications of mindfulness. This book is a must-read for anyone that is suspicious of the medicalization of everyday life.’


— Ronald E. Purser, Professor at San Francisco State University, USA, author of McMindfulness




This book critically examines the development of mindfulness, tracing its development from Buddhist meditation to its variety of popular applications today, including the treatment of mental disorders, wellbeing and improvement of performance. The book begins with a chapter on the meaning of mindfulness, then moves on to chart the spread of Buddhism into the western world and examine the development of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). The second half of the book considers some of the growing concerns related to mindfulness such as the loss of the moral and communitarian values of Buddhism, and the psychologicization and medicalization of existential problems into a capitalist society.

Tullio Giraldi teaches neuropsychopharmacology at the University of Trieste, Italy, where he is an Eminent Scholar at the Faculty of Medicine, and is currently Visiting Professor at the King’s College London. UK. He is also an ordained Rinzai Zen lay monk at Zenshin-ij Monastery, Italy, and author of Unhappiness, Sadness and 'Depression' (2017).