APA Webinar ~ Buddhist Ayurvedic Therapy by Matthew Aldridge

Tuesday, 25th October 2022, 17:30 – 19:00 BST

Online

The APA presents a webinar: 'The Rationale and Co-design of Internet-delivered Buddhist Ayurvedic Therapy by Matthew Aldridge.

In this presentation, Matthew will outline his PhD project on: “The Rationale and Co-design of Internet-delivered Buddhist Ayurvedic Therapy”. He will also invite your thoughts and ideas in relation to this work and will share how you can get involved in the project if it is something that interests you as well.

Matthew will cover the following points:

• Buddhism in the history of Ayurveda and Buddhist influences in the philosophical background of Ayurveda.
• A brief history of Buddhism and Ayurveda in England.
• Contemporary Buddhist-Derived Interventions (BDIs) for mental health.
• The development and introduction of “Buddhist Ayurvedic Counselling and Psychiatry (BĀCP)” as a new subject in the field of Buddhist Studies in Sri Lanka.
• Pāli Buddhist foundations of Buddhist Ayurvedic Therapy (BAT).
• A brief outline of the core principles in Buddhist Ayurvedic theory, assessment and practice elements.
• BAT practice development in England and current adaptations for NHS settings.
• Internet-delivered interventions for mental health.
• The case for internet-delivered BAT (iBAT).
• Current research at King’s College London on BAT.
• Getting involved: starting a project steering group and co-design team.
• Your thoughts, reflections, criticisms, feedback and questions – please!

The speaker is Matthew Aldridge.

Matthew Aldridge first discovered the value of Ayurveda in the 1990s when working as a volunteer for Samaseveya, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) in Sri Lanka, where Matt supported the education of local children and participated in a project educating on indigenous Ayurvedic herbs.

After qualifying at King’s College London and working for around a decade as a Registered Mental Health Nurse with specialist BSc training in psychosocial interventions for psychosis, Matt later also trained and qualified as an Ayurvedic therapist in the UK, and in 2015 returned to Sri Lanka, where he learned and participated in administrating traditional therapies under the supervision of Ayurvedic doctors within the Neelamahara tradition. Neelamahara has been famous in Sri Lanka for centuries as a traditional centre for specialist therapeutic knowledge and skill in relation to mental health. In 2015 Matt completed a diploma in Buddhist Āyurvedic Counselling and Psychiatry (BĀCP) at the Nāgānanda International Institute of Buddhist Studies.

Matt currently works as a practitioner trainer within the NHS and co-produces and cofacilitates various courses for mental health service users, their supporters and for other mental health professionals. This entails the co-production and delivery of Buddhist Ayurvedic-based educational courses in the NHS.

In 2022 Matt completed the first English language internet-delivered MA in Buddhist Āyurvedic Counselling, delivered by the University of Kelaniya in October 2022, and will be starting a PhD at King’s College London (KCL), with supervision from a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, a professor in the KCL Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and supervision from Prof. Sumanapala Galmangoda, who is the founder of the subject ‘Buddhist Ayurvedic Counselling and Psychiatry’ (BACP) in Sri Lanka.

Accessing the webinar

Please note that all the webinar participants will receive a link to the Zoom webinar via email on the 25th of October. To access the webinar, click on the Zoom link sent to your email from info@apa.uk.com. Please note that you do NOT need to enter the event via the Eventbrite page.

Please add the APA email address to your email contact list: info@apa.uk.com. Also, please check your Spam folder if you cannot see the email in your Inbox.

Recordings

Please note that you require a video recording of this webinar; you will need to purchase a separate video recording ticket via the Eventbrite page. All the video recording ticket holders will receive a copy of the video within 48 hours of the event. The live webinar ticket is only for a live event and does not include the recording.