“A warm, profound and cleareyed memoir. . . this wise and sympathetic book’s lingering effect is as a reminder that a deeper and more companionable way of life lurks behind our self-serious stories."—Oliver Burkeman, New York Times Book Review
Upcoming Events
Going To Pieces Without Falling Apart: The Best Of Buddhism & Psychotherapy - Sponsored By Tibet House Us
August 22 - 24, 2025
Menla
375 Pantherkill Road, Phoenicia, NY 12464
This workshop encourages relaxing the ever-vigilant mind to experience the freedom of relinquishing control. Drawing on psychotherapy and Buddhism—Winnicott and 14th-century Tibetan lama Tsongkhapa, as interpreted by Mark Epstein and Robert Thurman—we’ll weave meditation, discussion, reflection, and inspiration to explore this neglected yet revitalizing capacity.
Books
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![Advice Not Given - A Guide To Getting Over Yourself - Mark Epstein MD]()
Our ego, and its accompanying sense of nagging self-doubt as we work to be bigger, better, smarter, and more in control, is one affliction we all share. And, while our ego claims to have our best interests at heart, in …
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![The Trauma of Everyday Life - Mark Epstein MD]()
Trauma does not just happen to a few unlucky people; it is the bedrock of our psychology. Death and illness touch us all, but even the everyday sufferings of loneliness and fear are traumatic. In The Trauma of Everyday Life …
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![Going On Being - Mark Epstein]()
The bestselling author of Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart combines a memoir of his own journey as a student of Buddhism and psychology with a powerful message about how cultivating true self-awareness and adopting a Buddhist understanding of change can free …
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![Psychotherapy Without the Self - Mark Epstein MD]()
Immersed in Buddhist psychology prior to studying Western psychiatry, Dr. Mark Epstein first viewed Western therapeutic approaches through the lens of the East. This posed something of a challenge. Although both systems promise liberation through self-awareness, the central tenet of …
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![Open to Desire - Embracing a Lust for Life - Mark Epstein MD]()
It is common in both Buddhism and Freudian psychoanalysis to treat desire as the root of all suffering and problems, but psychiatrist Mark Epstein believes this to be a grave misunderstanding. In his defense of desire, he makes clear that …
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![Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart - A Buddhist Perspective on Wholeness - Mark Epstein, M.D.]()
For decades, Western psychology has promised fulfillment through building and strengthening the ego. We are taught that the ideal is a strong, individuated self, constructed and reinforced over a lifetime. But Buddhist psychiatrist Mark Epstein has found a different way. …
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![Thoughts Without A Thinker - Psychotherapy from a Buddhist Perspective - Mark Epstein, M.D.]()
The line between psychology and spirituality has blurred, as clinicians, their patients, and religious seekers explore new perspectives on the self. A landmark contribution to the field of psychoanalysis, Thoughts Without a Thinker describes how Buddhist teachings in particular have reshaped understandings of …
