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Counselors have a wide array of techniques they use to treat their clients. Not one form of counseling works for every individual seeking help. Over the past decades, mindfulness has piqued the interest of many counselors and researchers in the area of cognitive psychology. Its use in counseling has grown and is a part of many counseling processes. Mindfulness has helped to make new strides in the area of counseling and treating patients with a handful of different disorders and issues. Mindfulness is now a widely used practice, and research is still being conducted today to find new ways it can continue to benefit society.
What is Mindfulness?
According to Jain et. al. (2007), mindfulness can be traced back to the beginning of Buddhism. The
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A study done by Brown and Ryan (2003) investigated the relationship between mindfulness and individuals well-being. They found in their research that MAAS (mindful attention awareness scale) was related to lower levels of depression, anxiety and neuroticism, as well as unpleasant affect and negative affectivity. Not only that, but they also discovered that mindfulness resulted in higher self-esteem, self-actualization, and life satisfaction. When individuals are not only aware of their emotions, but also not quick to judge situations and feelings, they find it easier to take a step back and come up with positive solutions to their problems. By thinking positive, these individuals are going to have a more positive outlook on themselves and life, as opposed to those who judge …show more content…
According to Anderson (2005), mindfulness can help therapist and therapist trainees gain some of the necessary skills it takes to be a therapist or counselor. One of those skills is empathy. They found that subjects who participated in mindfulness meditation training showed increase of empathy after. The therapists are able to become in tune with their own thoughts and emotions; this then helps them relate to their clients and become more aware of how they feel. Another aspect of counseling mindfulness can help with is compassion. Shapiro, Schwartz, and Bonner (1998) found that nonjudging and nonreacting (two key components of mindfulness) to be highly correlated with compassion. Newsome, Christopher, Dajlem, & Christopher (2006) investigated the effect of mindfulness overall on the basics of counseling. They discovered in their four-year study that counselors who participated in mindfulness were m found to be more comfortable when a silence in the conversation arose, as well as more attuned to the clients and their needs. Overall, when the therapist or counselor attuned with themselves, they can do a better job helping their
Campbell, Jennifer Chrisman, and John Chambers Christopher. "Teaching mindfulness to create effective counselors." Journal of Mental Health Counseling July 2012: 213+. Academic OneFile. Web. 5 Mar. 2014.
Davis, D.M., & Hayea J.A. (2011). What are the benefits of mindfulness? A practice review of psychotherapy-related research. Psychotherapy, 48, pp. 198-208.
The origin of mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist philosophy and practice tradition which is more than two and half thousand years old. Mindfulness can be practisced by anyone of any faith and religion and involves training the mind and doesn’t enforce any religious belief system.
The most commonly used mindfulness based Interventions (MBI) used are the mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR), and mindfulness based cognitive therapy (Gu, Strauss, Bond & Cavanagh, 2015). Mindfulness based stress reduction was originally developed to treat chronic pain patients and was developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn (Lorentz, 2011). The MBSR is a group-based training that is held once a week, over an eight-week period for 2.5 hours per session. A variety of techniques are used to teach mindfulness. A combination of lecture series on mindfulness, group discussions and instruction mindfulness techniques (e.g. meditation, body-scan, breathing awareness, empathy awareness) are used to teach participants about
mindfulness techniques daily in both my interactions with my patients as well as my patient
Meditation is an age-old practice that has renewed itself in many different cultures and times. Despite its age, however, there remains a mystery and some ambiguity as to what it is, or even how one performs it. The practice and tradition of meditation dates back thousands of years having appeared in many eastern traditions. Meditation’s ancient roots cloud its origins from being attributed to a sole inventor or religion, though Bon, Hindu, Shinto, Dao, and later, Buddhism are responsible for its development. Its practice has permeated almost all major world religions, but under different names. It has become a practice without borders, influencing millions with its tranquil and healing effects.
Self-kindness and self-compassion also results in an increase in well-being (Neely, Schallert, Mohammed, Roberts, & Chen, 2009). A study by Hoffman, Grossman, & Hinton (2011) supports this by proving that loving-kindness and compassion meditation not only results in increased positive affect, but also results in a decrease in negative affect.
For thousands of years people have practiced mediation for spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. Albeit there are many mediation types, in this paper I will be discussing and focusing on mindfulness mediation. Before further exploring mindfulness mediation, it is crucial to define mediation as a whole. Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016 state “Meditation can be defined as a form of mental training that aims to improve an individual’s core psychological capacities, such as attentional and emotional capacities” (p.213). Having that in mind, we can dive into mindfulness mediation. Mindfulness meditation is defined as “nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experiences (Tang, Holzel, & Posner, 2016).” A useful analogy to consider is going to the gym, going to the gym allows one to enhance the body, well similarly, practicing mindfulness is akin to taking the mind to the psychic gym, it enhances it. Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and then bringing your mind’s attention to the present all while dismissing discursive thoughts and maintaining a special focus on breathing.
Mindfulness is an ideal that has been present for thousands of years (positivepsychologyprogram.com). It has roots in almost every major religion: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and most renown, Buddhism and Hinduism (positivepsychologyprogram.com). Psychology Today defines mindfulness as “a state of active, open attention on the present.” Dr. Shauna Shapiro during a TEDx Talk defines mindfulness as “intentionally paying attention with kindness” (Shapiro, S., 2017). Mindfulness has many principles involved with it, but the short version is to be aware. It is to be aware of the present moment deliberately. Jon Kabat-Zinn, considered the father of the western movement for mindfulness by some, defines mindfulness as, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Bodhipaksa, 2007). We, as humans, get caught up in the business of life; so, we need to stay oriented to the present. Another way to describe this is “acting with awareness rather than on ‘automatic autopilot’” (Caldwell, et al, 2010). Mindfulness is non-judgmental about life. Mindfulness is to not be over-reactive by what’s going on around us (mindful.org). Mindfulness is being non-reactive to your environment. There are many things that stem from this thinking,
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, as a therapeutic technique. The M square, as I call it, which stands for Mindfulness and Meditation is making an impact on today’s society, as it has been used by more people with each passing day. They are starting to acknowledge the benefits, some of which are the improvement in both mental and physical health, acceptance of one’s self, lower stress and depression, and maybe more, but to mention a few. Not excluding these two great men: Dr. Martinez, a Biocognitive Psychologist, and Keith Mitchell, an ex-American football linebacker in the National Football League. Both Dr. Martinez and Keith are strong supporters and practitioners of meditation and mindfulness.
To begin with, mindfulness is when someone can pay attention to the present moment “without being devoted to different points of view” (Martin, 1997). Along with staying focused on the present moment, mindfulness is when the particular person does not judge the current experience as the person tries to comprehend the present situation. Mindfulness makes a person reflect on one’s self by not only figuring out one’s thoughts, but also the feelings that go along with it. The complex nature of mindfulness demonstrates that it has multiple purposes that cultivates a person into realizing the potential of the brain (Davis & Hayes,
In the past two decades, many philosophers, spiritual leaders, and psychological transitions have accentuated the importance of the quality of consciousness for the maintenance and enhancement of well-being. One of the characteristics of consciousness that has been discussed in relation to well-being is mindfulness. In concentration with the psychology discipline, mindfulness meditation practices have been increasingly used to treat a majority of pain, stress and anxiety-related conditions and also, increasing well-being. The ideology of mindfulness meditation has core roots in Buddhist philosophy and other pensive traditions where awareness and conscious attention are actively cultured (Brown, Kirk Warren,2003).
Living in the present allows me to live and tend to my thoughts and emotions that I often suppress or ignore. Working as a school counselor, I think that I will use mindfulness to help students with anxiety, behavior problems, and depression. I hope to use mindfulness in the future as I teach students how to use mindfulness in their own lives so that they can exist in the present and connect their mind with their body. Through using mindfulness in sessions with students and possibly in the classroom setting, I will give them a tool to help manage and become more self-aware of the thoughts and emotions they experience so they can learn how to better tend, express and manage them. However, without practicing mindfulness myself I would not have understood its power in the work of my client’s
For my future practice, Ratanasiripong, Park, Ratanasiripong, & Kathalae (2015) have identified mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as a useful means of reducing anxiety. MBSR has been shown to “decrease stress, increase the quality of life and compassion, and reduce burnout and improve the health of healthcare professionals” (p. 521). In the future, I may be in more anxiety provoking roles that is more nerve wracking than this situation. Learning about this stress reducing practice now, as a student, will help me form a concrete foundation for when I am a licensed
Mindfulness is defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.” Many people practice mindfulness to reduce stress, but it has also been shown to reduce rumination, stress, and emotional reactivity. On the other side, mindfulness has been been linked to boosting memory, focus, and cognitive flexibility while aiding in relationships (Davis and Hayes, 2012). This state of thought is useful not only for people already anxious, but also for those preparing to enter more stressful situations. Practicing mindfulness earlier on can help with finding coping mechanisms before one is put in a stressful