Marian, meanwhile, is taking the opportunity to read further into Buddhist Psychology and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: A Clinician's Guide, and was only half listening. 

"...Uh, wait, sorry, what does 'aperiant' mean?" Also she doesn't know half of those foods or herbs or whatever, but it's not like she has to pass the class. 

"It's the laxative."

"- Oh, huh. Soft eggs are a laxative? Also I have no idea what a 'ptsian' is." 

"It is a kind of the plant."

"I guess most medicines from that time period were probably plants." 

Marian goes back to staring - well, kind of glaring - at her textbook. 

Over the course of the last two decades, methods and concepts that have been associated with Buddhism for centuries have become the central focus of much CBT research and development. CBT has been described as undergoing a third wave of innovation (Herbert & Forman, 2011) that has everything to do with a proliferation of methods based in such Buddhist-informed concepts as mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion.

To varying degrees, both CBT and Buddhist psychology train people to cultivate a present-moment-focused awareness of our experience, in order to cut through the influence of delusional beliefs and destructive emotions (Dalai Lama, 1991; Kwee, Gergen, & Koshikawa, 2006).

Furthermore, both schools of thought employ forms of analytic reasoning to question the merit and believability of distressing thinking, as well as contemplative, experiential techniques to reduce psychological suffering (Baker et al., 2009; Guenther & Kawamura, 1975).

"......Okay so I think this textbook might be reasonable and true? But it - keeps saying things where I'm, like, 'that sounds plausible but I'm not sure', and then it gives a citation? And the problem is that I can't look up the citation! ....I guess I could ask the void. Maybe that's a reasonable thing to ask the void for?" 

"You can try? Are there things in the textbooks that aren't true?"

"I'm not sure! It just keeps....saying things that are really hard to even cash out into something where I could check if it were true or false? Okay, so, -"

And she pauses and reads out loud from the textbook in a singsong-rote sort of tone. 

This blend of positive psychological change, based both on knowledge and in direct experience, is a primary characteristic of the integration of Buddhist psychology and CBT.

".....What does that even mean? I mean, just - I did an entire psych rotation in nursing school and stuff! And I totally read a whole bunch of stuff about CBT - cognitive behavioral therapy, sorry, not sure if that's come up in your books before - but I don't think I ever saw anything about that being combined with Buddhism? And then this book is just talking about it like, like it's some kind of known fact that the Buddhist understanding of psychology fits perfectly with the CBT understanding. Which I kind of doubt, honestly! And it just - feels like kind of a dirty rhetorical move? But now I can't check!" 

"I know about the Buddhism? Maybe I can help."

She is even mostly certain which things are Buddhism and which things are Daoism.

"Great! Because I think this stupid textbook mostly doesn't know how Buddhism works! ....I mean, not that I do either, so I guess I wouldn't be able to tell? But, just...." 

Marian trails off, shrugs, and goes back to glaring at her stupid textbook. 

As many of us who have chosen to go into the helping professions have experienced, Siddartha found himself deeply, emotionally moved in the face of human suffering, and committed his life to understanding it, and to freeing himself and others from suffering.

".....Ok, you know what, fair enough. Fucking fair enough. - Sorry Wen Qing can you please change the subject if you don't want me to start crying because otherwise I'm about to start crying about this." 

"--I want to diagnose my brother? Is that far enough away?"

"- Uh, sure? Do....you have a particular diagnosis in mind, or particular symptoms you're worried about?" 

"He is scared of the people. He can't speak any of the languages other than the Mandarin, no matter how hard he studies, and I know he studies. He is too meek to fight, even in the practice." 

"- Right. Okay. I - I'm not actually sure if the psych diagnoses that the mundane world came up with are going to be useful for this? Because, like, being shy by itself isn't a diagnosis, though he could probably be diagnosed with social anxiety, and over there not wanting to fight is almost more normal and healthy than wanting to fight? Having a lot of trouble learning new languages is - I guess it's more surprising if it's literally a survival thing, he would've studied a lot harder than most kids do. He might have some kind of learning disability but that doesn't really narrow it down much. I could try to get something from the void on diagnosing learning disabilities? And then - well, I don't think there are actually drugs that fix it, but if we know what the exact problem is, it might be easier to help him work around it." 

"He's very scared of the people, I think, even for the mundane world? He doesn't like expressing the preferences, he just does what everyone wants from him."

Nod. "Poor kid. I, uh - how horrible were your parents, on the horrible parents scale? Especially to him in particular. Did they, like, punish him for getting wrong answers when he was studying, or, uh, having preferences?" 

"My parents are not like Jiang Fengmian and Madame Yu, you understand? They did well parenting me. I am smart and athletic and I have an affinity that's useful inside and outside the Scholomance."

Oh, oops, did she offend Wen Qing. "- Yeah that makes sense. I - think a lot of parents find it easier to parent kids who are smart and talented and...like them? I mean, my parents were great with me and - way less great with my sister, she was less like them and had different problems and they didn't really understand them?" 

"My brother is hard for any parent, I think. He's a sweet boy, kind to the animals, loves to garden, always works hard, always a kind word for everyone. But he is not bright and he is very meek. And so he is a disappointment to my parents. And then because he's a disappointment, he's more scared. And being scared makes him more of a disappointment. They gave up on him before I left for the Scholomance. I was very scared that he wouldn't get a spot."

"....Yeah. That really sucks. But - maybe it could be better here? Since they're not around, and he's in a new environment. ...Does he have friends here? How do the other freshman treat him?" 

"The other freshmen-- pick up their attitudes from the adults, I think. Masozi seems to like him, and Ayako and Mei are kind to him."

"That's something. And obviously you care a lot about him. - Actually, speaking of Masozi, I'd wanted to ask you how he's doing. And whether you know anything about his background before coming to the Scholomance? I - just, I noticed he seems really jumpy and easily startled, and he - does that thing where if something startles him he hides behind the other freshman kid and looks terrified. I realize this makes more sense with the magic death monsters, but the other Shanghai kids aren't like that, so I just...was kind of concerned." 

"I think he's also-- uh, I don't know the word-- the bad parents but more than the bad parents--"

"Traumatized? ...Like, had lots of bad experiences and now he - expects things to go badly and that people he doesn't know will hurt him?" 

"Yes. That. Traumatized. He left his family and traveled from Malawi to Johannesberg by himself with no one to rely on but himself for killing mals."