Mindfulness Flashcards
Applying assumptions to therapy
Mindfulness links strongly with the overall aim of positive psychology which is to improve well-being and aid in the flourishing of human potential. Therefore, it could be argued that mindfulness is linked with the assumption of “the good life”. Meditation and mindful breathing can be an activity that engages us.
Another link is that of the authenticity of goodness and excellence.
The informal practices of mindfulness are focused on nurturing positive emotions, strengths and virtues, and emphasising their importance and authenticity.
Mindfulness also teaches life regulation qualities such as patience.
Mindfulness is based on the assumption that humans have free will.
One of the key ideas of mindfulness is to train an individual to gain control over their thoughts and emotions.
In contrast to a determinist stance that would argue that our thoughts and emotions are beyond our control.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is one of the therapies associated with the positive approach.
It uses meditation and breathing techniques to help people focus on the moment and increase their well-being.
Many of the examples we use focus on the use of mindfulness to deal with issues such as stress. However, it is important to note that mindfulness has been used to treat other psychological problems and can also be used to promote flourishing and well-being in individuals who aren’t experiencing a particular psychological issue.
Principle of mindfulness
Mindfulness has its roots in ancient Buddhist practice and is a way of teaching people to control their own mind by paying attention to, and increasing awareness of, their present thoughts.
Gaining control of thoughts
Normally our minds are focused on the past - going over old feelings or busy contemplating the future.
The goal of focusing on the present is to gain greater awareness of unhelpful / negative thoughts and gain control over them and spend less time dealing with them.
Meditation and mindful breathing
Central to mindfulness is the art of meditation.
It allows people to reprocess their internal experiences and help them accept that thoughts and related emotions are impermanent.
In this way the individual learns not to react in an automatic way to their thoughts.
Informal practices of mindfulness
Once learnt, it can be practiced throughout daily life.
Informal practice simply involves paying attention to the surroundings and the moment.
When an individual’s attention begins to wander they should bring their attention back to these sensations.
Informal practices can be incorporated into daily life to give us a break from our normal thought processes.
Examples of mindfulness techniques
There are a number of different ways that individuals can practice mindfulness.
The most well-known techniques involve the use of meditation and mindful breathing.
Examples:
In a body scan, the individual is guided through the process of paying attention to sensations in different parts of the body without reacting to them.
Mindfulness can also be practiced informally by consciously deciding to focus our attention on a particular task such as eating or brushing or teeth.
We often engage in tasks like this while thinking about other things but practising to pay attention to one thing at a time can help us improve our well-being.
Meditation and mindfulness apps
The growth in popularity of mindfulness techniques has also led to an abundance of online meditations and apps designed to teach people to be more mindful and to pay attention to the present moment.
Integration with other therapies
The techniques of mindfulness practice are becoming increasingly incorporated into other therapies, such as psychoanalysis and CBT, offering a new and alternative perspective in therapy.
Integration with other therapies - example
Mindfulness-Based CBT (MiCBT) is a four-stage therapeutic approach which incorporates mindfulness with CBT.
While traditional CBT attempts to modify people’s unrealistic thoughts and beliefs, MiCBT helps to change the process of thinking, not just the content of our thoughts.
Mindfulness is demonstrated to be an effective technique.
Application in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
MBCT has been used to help prevent patients who suffer recurrent depression from relapse.
Teasdale et al (2000)
Evaluated the effectiveness of MBCT among 145 recurrently depressed patients.
Patients were randomly allocated to receive treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU plus eight classes of MBCT.
Relapse / recurrence to major depression was assessed over a 60-week period.
Teasdale et al reported that MBCT provided the greatest help to those who had suffered the most number of previous episodes.
It did not have an effect on those who had only two episodes of depression in the past, but substantially reduced the risk of relapse in those who had three or more previous episodes of depression.
Kabat-Zinn (1990)
MBSR has been developed for use in general hospitals with patients suffering from conditions which may be painful, chronic, disabling or terminal.
Reibel et al (2001)
Reported that MBSR decreased levels of anxiety and depression in 136 patients who participated in an 8-week mindfulness programme, involving 20 minutes of meditation per day.
These results were also seen after a one-year follow up.
Group VS Individual mindfulness
For certain psychological problems, there is some evidence to suggest that mindfulness meditation is more effective in group settings.
