Love in Buddhism & Psychotherapy

A Contemplative and Clinical Exploration

A BCBS Path Program with Pilar Jennings

Love in Buddhism & Psychotherapy

Pilar Jennings

Program Dates: July 3, 2025 - June 22, 2026
Application Deadline: March 28, 2025 (5:00 PM EST)

This Path program will explore the complex nature and role of love as it is presented in Buddhist psychology and Western psychotherapeutic theory and practice.

From the inception of both traditions, there has been ample commentary on the function of love. In Buddhist traditions, it is addressed in the Brahmaviharas, a foundational practice that encourages curiosity about how and who we love. In the psychotherapeutic tradition, it has been suggested that a primary developmental need is to both give and receive love from our earliest experience of relationship. And yet, the nature of love can easily hide behind an array of other feelings and needs akin to, but distinct from, love as it’s understood in these healing traditions.

Program Overview

Application Timeframe

Applications Close:
March 25, 2025 (5:00 PM EST)

Prerequisites

None, although some prior exposure to Buddhist meditation and the healing arts will be helpful.

Experience Level

This program is suitable for beginning and experienced practitioners.

In-Person Program Dates

Retreat I: July 3 - 6, 2025
Retreat II: December 18 - 21, 2025
Retreat III: June 18-22, 2026

Zoom Gatherings

One Tuesday per Month
7:00-8:30 PM ET

CEUs

Applications for 30 continuing education units for psychologists and social workers have been submitted for this program.

Program Information

Program Description

For clinicians, this course will provide opportunities to explore the therapeutic nature of love and the importance of consciously working with it in clinical treatment. Themes will include the therapist’s experience of love for the patient, and the patient’s longing to feel and be loved by the therapist. The role of needed boundaries alongside the need for human affective arisings that include the tenderness of love, affection, and protectiveness, will be addressed.

For meditators, this course will offer a deepening understanding of the spiritual challenges posed by authentic love and efforts to cultivate it with fewer unconscious conditions. Primary themes will include the relationship between equanimity and love; the nature of love when explored through the lens of the wisdom teachings; and healing interventions in both traditions that restore this most generative and essential part of the human condition.

Program Components

Participants will be supported by:

Three in-person retreats
Monthly 90-minute Zoom Gatherings
Monthly meditation instruction and texts
Monthly readings

Participation Expectations

In order to create an experience that is inclusive and healing for all, participants are encouraged to bring a sense of friendly curiosity and respect to the material we explore, and to the divergent responses from fellow participants. In this way, we will mutually support an optimal environment for learning.

Time Commitment

Participants are encouraged to develop an ongoing meditation practice that may include mindfulness breathwork, prayer and mantra recitation, or visualizations. This practice can accommodate all work schedules, so that it becomes something easily incorporated into daily life. During the program, instruction and texts will be provided to support this practice. There is also a moderate time commitment for readings to be explored during monthly zoom meetings.

Retreat Format

Retreat days will include silent and guided meditation, presentations, and small and large group discussions.

Noble silence will be observed following each evening session through breakfast the next morning.

Prerequisites

None, although some prior exposure to Buddhist meditation and the healing arts will be helpful.

Continuing Education Credits

Applications for 30 continuing education units for psychologists and social workers have been submitted for this program. The accrediting agencies are the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) and the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy (IMP).

Learn more about Social Work Licensure Board Endorsements. Before registration, please confirm with your licensing board whether the CEUs offered are applicable to your licensure.

Learn more about CEUs offered through BCBS.

Program Schedule

July 3 - 6, 2025

In-Person Program

The Role of Love I: The Buddhist Psychology of Lovingkindness

In the foundational teachings of the Buddhist tradition, there are nuanced explorations of heart-centered states, from the Brahmaviharas and the Paramitas. In this module, we will explore the teachings of lovingkindess and equanimity, the wisdom teachings of the Heart Sutra, and the paramitas of generosity and patience, as a way in to this tradition’s understanding of our capacity for love, even in the face of interpersonal difficulties and strife. We will also explore the Tibetan Buddhist practice of imaginative mentor-bonding as a psychologically illuminating practice for giving and receiving love and affection.

Zoom Group Sessions

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, November 4, 2025 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)

December 18 - 21, 2025

In-Person Program

The Role of Love II: Love in the Clinical Space

Beginning with the inception of the psychotherapeutic tradition, theorists from Fairbairn to Ferenczi and Balint, all made efforts to map out the role of love in human development. It took generations of clinicians to bring us to our contemporary appreciation for the importance of love in clinical work, to consciously risk feeling love for those seeking therapeutic support, and to appropriately and therapeutically receive the love experienced by the client. In this module, we will explore the insights of Dan Shaw, Stephen Mitchell, and Jessica Benjamin as we think through the therapeutic nature of love and how to skillfully feel and express love for patients and clients.

Zoom Group Sessions

Tuesday, February 2, 2026 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)
Tuesday, June 2, 2026 (7:00-8:30 PM EST)

June 18-22, 2026

In-Person Program

The Role of Love III: Restoring Love in Buddhism & Psychotherapy

In this last module, we will examine the healing methods offered in both traditions for psychological and spiritual suffering due to loss of primary relationships, early interpersonal thwarting, and trauma. Together, we will reflect on the nature of the healing dyad as it is offered in psychotherapy and Buddhism, contrasting the dynamics, both beneficial and dangerous, of the clinical dyad and the spiritual mentor/disciple dyad. We will also explore love as it arises in relationships between parents and children, partners, and friends. Together, we will practice the various methods provided in each tradition, including mutual recognition, exploration of transference and countertransference, mindfulness of feelings, the Brahmaviharas, and healing visualization.

Application Information

Residential Pricing:

Includes lodging and meals at BCBS during the in-person programs. Click the Pricing Notes tab to learn about Tier Pricing and Financial Assistance.

Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Benefactor
$2,240	$1,840	$1,440	$3,040

Commuter Pricing:

Includes meals without lodging during the in-person programs.

Standard

$950

Program Fees: Program fees include both residential and online components of the program. The first half is due upon registration, and the second half is due three weeks before the first retreat.

Accessibility: BCBS keeps prices as affordable as possible and offers Tier Pricing and Financial Assistance options to keep programs accessible:

Tier Pricing: You may choose a tier and pay according to your means. Tier 1 covers the actual cost of the program. Tiers 2 and 3 are subsidized rates made possible through the generosity of donors. The Benefactor rate enables you to offer additional, tax-deductible support to BCBS and fellow program participants. Please select the highest tier that fits your budget to help keep BCBS programs accessible.

Financial Assistance: If needed, you may request additional financial assistance on the registration page.

Teacher Dāna/Generosity: Program fees do not include payments to teachers. Please consider supporting Pilar with dāna (generosity) during your program.

Cancellation Policy: We understand that personal circumstances may require you to cancel your registration. In these cases, please contact us right away. If you cancel more than eight weeks before the program starts, you are eligible for a full refund minus a $100 administrative fee. If you cancel between three and eight weeks before the program starts, you are eligible for a 50% refund of the deposit. Registration fees are nonrefundable less than three weeks before the program starts.

Applications Open: Currently Open

Applications Close: March 28, 2025 (5:00 PM EST)

Initial Accepted Applicants Notified: April 28, 2025

Payment Due: First half of the course fee is due within two weeks of the date of acceptance. The second half is due three weeks before the first retreat.

Program Starts: July 3, 2025

Guiding Teacher

Pilar Jennings

Dr. Pilar Jennings is a psychoanalyst based in New York City, focusing on the clinical applications of Buddhist meditation practice. She has been a Buddhist practitioner for 40 years, a teacher of Tibetan Buddhism in the Sakya lineage, a Visiting Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and a faculty member of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. Her publications have included “East of Ego: The Intersection of Narcissism and Buddhist Meditation Practice,” “I’ve Been Waiting for You: Reflections on Analytic Pain,” “Imagery and Trauma: The Psyche’s Push for Healing,” and Mixing Minds: The Power of Relationship in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism. Her most recent book, To Heal a Wounded Heart: On the Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action, is a psychoanalytic memoir exploring her entry into clinical work as a practicing Buddhist.

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