Rev. Danny Fisher

To send one of the postcards pictured below, follow this link.

In the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle this past weekend, Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered his advice to whomever is elected the next President of the United States this November.

Thanks to an article in the Sacramento Bee, I discovered a new book entitled The Zen of Helping: Spiritual Principles for Mindful and Open-Hearted Practice by Dr. Andrew Bein, LCSW, which was just published by Wiley Press. Here’s what the Bee has to say about it:

[Bein, a licensed clinical social worker and professor in Sacramento State's Division of Social Work, has] devoted the last 10 years of his professional career to studying Zen Buddhism and helping psychologists, social workers, doctors and even educators use Zen principles to break the rigid, inscrutable therapist stereotype.

[The new book] aims to guide workers dealing with difficult clients (uncaring, drug-addicted, violent) with wrenching problems.

It is Bein’s belief that the way clinicians are taught to present themselves in professional situations – abiding to strict therapist-patient boundaries with little emotion surfacing – often fails to help the client get better and doesn’t help the therapist deal with the stress.

“One organizing Zen principle is ‘strong back, soft front,’ ” Bein says. “We need to emphasize compassion and face with an open-hearted acceptance of who is sitting in front of us rather than wishing our client were more educated or have more resources or not be so resistant. You take in your client for who they are.”

I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on this book and digging into it. You can bet there will be more when I do.