We began by exploring a simple but far-reaching question: What would therapeutic approaches look like if they were grounded not in changing the contents of experience, but in changing one’s relationship to experience itself? Over the past several decades, mindfulness-based interventions have demonstrated that contemplative insights can be translated into practical, secular, evidence-informed programs that reduce suffering and improve functioning. At the same time, a growing number of clinicians, researchers, and contemplative practitioners have recognized the limits of techniques that work exclusively at the level of attention, thought, or behavior. INT exists to explore a deeper layer—nonduality—and to do so carefully, responsibly, and in forms suitable for modern therapeutic contexts. Rather than offering a single, one-size-fits-all program, INT is developing a framework of Nonduality-Based Therapies, within which multiple, clearly defined modalities can emerge. Each modality addresses a different clinical domain while sharing a common foundational insight. In this context, nonduality does not refer to a belief system, metaphysical doctrine, or religious commitment. It refers to a direct experiential recognition: that experience is not fundamentally divided into a separate observer and observed. In ordinary stress, anxiety, depression, or addiction, suffering is often intensified by identification—the sense that thoughts, emotions, cravings, or narratives constitute a solid, central self that must be defended, fixed, or controlled. Nonduality-based approaches work by gently loosening this identification, allowing experience to be met with greater clarity, flexibility, and psychological freedom. Importantly, INT’s work emphasizes: Within this framework, INT is currently developing three core programs. NDSR addresses stress not merely as a physiological or cognitive problem, but as a pattern of over-identification with internal experience. Rather than attempting to eliminate stressors or control thoughts, participants learn to recognize the awareness in which stress responses arise—and to relate to those responses with less resistance and reactivity. As the gateway modality, NDSR serves several important functions: NDSR is not intended to replace existing stress-reduction approaches, but to complement them by addressing a layer of experience that is often left untouched. A Bridge to Mainstream Psychology Nonduality-Based Cognitive Therapy (NDCT) extends the nondual framework directly into the domain of cognition, meaning-making, and thought identification. Traditional cognitive therapies focus on examining, restructuring, or replacing maladaptive thoughts. NDCT takes a different, but compatible, approach: it explores the assumed relationship between thoughts and the self. Rather than asking, “Is this thought true or false?” NDCT invites inquiry into questions such as: By working at this level, NDCT does not compete with established cognitive models—it augments them. Many clinicians already recognize that insight alone does not dissolve identification. NDCT offers a way to address this gap without abandoning evidence-informed psychological language or clinical rigor. Because of this, NDCT functions as a bridge modality, connecting nondual insights with mainstream psychological theory, clinical training, and research. An Underserved and Clinically Powerful Niche Nonduality-Based Relapse Prevention (NDRP) applies the nondual framework to one of the most persistent challenges in behavioral health: relapse. Relapse is often framed in terms of willpower, craving management, or behavioral substitution. While these approaches are valuable, they often leave untouched a deeper mechanism: the moment of re-identification in which an urge, emotion, or narrative becomes “me” or “mine.” NDRP focuses on: From a clinical standpoint, this makes NDRP both powerful and underutilized. It offers a way to work with addiction and compulsive behavior that neither moralizes nor pathologizes, and that does not require spiritual beliefs or altered states. Philosophically elegant yet practically grounded, NDRP represents one of the most promising applications of nonduality-based work in contemporary therapeutic settings. These three programs—NDSR, NDCT, and NDRP—are not isolated offerings. They are designed as interconnected expressions of a single framework: Nonduality-Based Therapies. Each program: INT’s long-term vision is to continue developing this framework thoughtfully, guided by dialogue with clinicians, researchers, contemplative practitioners, and participants themselves. Nonduality-based work, when handled carelessly, can be destabilizing or misunderstood. INT’s commitment is to do this work slowly, transparently, and responsibly—bridging deep insight with modern therapeutic wisdom. Whether you are a clinician, researcher, contemplative practitioner, or someone seeking a new way of meeting life, the Institute for Nonduality-Based Therapies welcomes you. Please reach out through our contact form. Together, we can cultivate a deeper, clearer, more compassionate understanding of the mind—and support the emergence of a new paradigm in mental health grounded in the liberating power of nondual awareness.
Nonduality-Based Therapies
How the Institute for Nonduality-Based Therapies (INT) Is Developing a New Family of Clinical Approaches
What Are Nonduality-Based Therapies?
1. Nonduality-Based Stress Reduction (NDSR)
2. Nonduality-Based Cognitive Therapy (NDCT)
3. Nonduality-Based Relapse Prevention (NDRP)
A Coherent, Ethical, and Expandable Framework
Join Us
Nonduality-Based Stress Reduction (NDSR) is the foundational program within the INT framework. It is designed as a structured, time-limited course that introduces participants to nondual awareness in a grounded, accessible way.