Bhagwad Gita: Foundations of Counselling and Psychotherapy in India.

This paper attempts to describe the central ideas of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu sacred book, about its psychotherapeutic implications in the Indian socio-cultural setting. The Gita's teachings, as delivered by Lord Krishna, guide us in the proper direction. In many aspects, conflict resolution through the Gita resembles the work of psychotherapists, who, in addition to addressing patients' concerns and conflicts, assist them with symptom resolution and pave the way to long-term recovery. Counselling and psychotherapy are critical psychological interventions in treating people experiencing emotional distress. The Bhagavad Gita's applicability and utility as a source and model for developing psychotherapeutic concepts are appropriate for the Indian context. In Western psychology, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) was discovered in the 1900's era. Still, it was first delivered and documented in India as the Bhagwat Gita before 5000 BC. The fundamental focus of CBT therapy is to produce affirmative changes in the patient's thinking and interpretation of events rather than the event itself. In the Bhagwat Gita, events and situations remained the same, as in chapters one through eighteen; only Arjuna's thinking, emotions, and behaviour were modified after receiving discourses or CBT from Krishna. Hence, it can be said that Counselling and Psychotherapy have their underpinnings in the Bhagwat Gita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]