Self in psychotherapy: An Indian perspective

Abstract

This paper discusses the two ways in which the concept of 'self'has been discussed in the Indian tradition, and its relationship to suffering and healing. There being outer and inner self, denoted as antaratman and ahamkara respectively, is a common theme across Indian darshana/ philosophy, although the exact terms and few nuances differ amongst them. Ahamkara, or the outer self seems to have overlap with concepts like ego, and self from the modern psychology.Kumar's model of Ahamkara ( 2005) has four main sub-components; Vaishisthya / individuality, Dwaita bhav / separation, Abhimana/ identification and Kartatva/ agency. The article describes the results from multiple studies to support such an Indian model of self, its expansion to include a componenet of 'ripe-ego', and ahamkara's association with well-being in modern world. It then goes on to discuss the implications of this Indian model of self in the psychotherapy practice along with giving a case example and future directions for further research.