E-Book, Englisch, 80 Seiten
Witkiewitz / Roos / Colgan Mindfulness
2017
ISBN: 978-1-61334-414-9
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
E-Book, Englisch, 80 Seiten
Reihe: Advances in Psychotherapy - Evidence-Based Practice
ISBN: 978-1-61334-414-9
Verlag: Hogrefe Publishing
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
Clear and compact guidance on integrating mindfulness into practice
This clear and concise book provides practical, evidence-based guidance on the use of mindfulness in treatment: its mechanism of action, the disorders for which there is empirical evidence of efficacy, mindfulness practices and techniques, and how to integrate them into clinical practice.
Leading experts describe the concepts and roots of mindfulness, and examine the science that has led to this extraordinarily rich and ancient practice becoming a foundation to many contemporary, evidenced-based approaches in psychotherapy. The efficacy of mindfulness-based interventions in conditions as diverse as borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol and substance use, emotional dysregulation, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic stress, eating disorders, and other medical conditions including type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis is also described. The book is invaluable reading for all those curious about the current science around mindfulness and about how and when to incorporate it effectively into clinical practice.
Zielgruppe
Clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and
counselors, as well as students.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
Weitere Infos & Material
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Theories and Models
2.1 The “Mindfulness-Based” Movement
2.1.1 Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Application of mindfulness meditation as a Western, secularized intervention approach began largely with the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn in the late 1980s. Kabat-Zinn explored the use of mindfulness meditation in treating patients with chronic pain, a program now known as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985). MBSR is theoretically grounded in secularized Buddhist meditation practices, mind-body medicine, and the transactional model of stress, which suggests that people can be taught to manage stress by adjusting their cognitive perspective and increasing their coping skills. The primary aims of MBSR are to enhance attentional control and receptive awareness by focusing on internal (bodily sensations, breath, thoughts, emotions) and external (sights, sounds) stimuli in the present moment. With this enhanced attentional allocation and awareness, it is postulated that one may skillfully, rather than habitually or reactively, respond to the present moment experience. This process allows for a larger, and potentially more skillful, behavioral repertoire in the presence of stress and adversity. A typical MBSR course is delivered in a group format and consists of eight weekly 2.5-hour sessions and an all-day (6-hour) retreat session. In addition, regular home meditation practice, for about 45 minutes daily, is expected. MBSR groups are frequently transdiagnostic in nature, emphasizing that all participants, regardless of disorder, experience an ongoing stream of constantly changing internal states and have the ability to cultivate moment-to-moment awareness. MBSR sessions are largely experiential with considerable time dedicated to mindfulness practice. The raisin exercise is the first experimental activity. Participants are invited to see, feel, smell, and taste an individual raisin with an elevated sense of curiosity and interest. This primary exercise is intended to experientially discern mindful awareness from automatic pilot, the tendency to act with limited awareness of one’s thoughts, emotions, or behaviors. The discussion following this practice typically centers on the direct sensory experiences of the raisin, the mind’s tendencies to wander or judge, and the nature of automatic pilot. The MBSR facilitator discusses with participants how automatic pilot can be advantageous at times; however, these unconscious thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations can also trigger habits of thinking and behaving that are harmful and can lead to greater stress and worsening mood. Cultivating mindfulness while engaging in seemingly mundane daily |12|activities, such as eating or washing dishes, is encouraged throughout the eight weeks to enhance awareness and promote the understanding of the interrelationships between habitual thought, emotion, and behavior. Participants are also asked to notice pleasant and unpleasant events and the associated thoughts, emotions, and sensations. This practice cultivates increased awareness and appreciation of pleasant events when they occur, and recognition of the associated sensations and emotions. This may also help participants explore the tendency to catalog experiences as pleasant or unpleasant, and to attempt to cling to pleasant experiences and avoid or get rid of unpleasant ones. Throughout the course, an assortment of mindfulness practices are introduced, including the body scan, mindful breathing, mindful movement, and walking meditation. During the body scan, also introduced in the first session, attention is directed sequentially throughout the body in order to cultivate a nonjudgmental awareness of physical sensations, cognitions, and emotions. This is based on the understanding of the body as the first foundation, or first object, of mindfulness, as taught in the Satipa??hana and Mahasatipa??hana Suttas. Participants cultivate the ability to sense or perceive the bodily sensations, without referring to the narratives and judgments about the body. By tuning into the body on its own terms, the direct experience of the body breathing, its movements, postures, anatomical parts, the elements of which it is composed, as well as its impermanence, participants gain practice in referring to experience itself, rather than the secondary appraisal of experience (Analayo, 2004). Therefore, during the body scan, sensations in each area are carefully observed; participants are encouraged to simply perceive rather than think about or evaluate sensation. As the mind becomes distracted, attention is gently returned to the sensations arising and passing in the current moment. In the practice of mindfulness of breath, attention is similarly directed to physical sensations in the body. In this practice, however, the chosen target of attention is the sensations that arise in the body as breathing occurs. The intention differs from breathing exercises or deep breathing in that participants are instructed not to attempt to change or control breathing, but to allow the body to breathe naturally, and to bring attention to the associated sensations. When the mind wanders from the breath, the participant notices this shift, and perhaps the content of the distraction, and focus is gently returned to the sensations of breathing. Mindful movement cultivates an individual’s awareness of the bodily sensations while slowly and gently moving, stretching, or holding a position. Similarly, during walking meditation, attention is deliberately focused on the sensations in the body while walking, including the shifting of weight and balance and sensations in one’s legs and feet. Finally, open-focused practice invites the individual to expand his or her attention to include sounds in the environment, sounds and sensations of breathing, bodily sensations, and the stream of constantly changing thoughts and emotions with a curious, nonreactive, and nonjudgmental stance. All these practices aim to develop concentration, attentional flexibility, and interoceptive awareness. Furthermore, during these practices, one begins to notice the transitory nature of experience, as well as the frequency and automaticity of judgmental and narrative thinking. During each session, the teacher facilitates discussions that explore participants’ experiences with in-session and home practices. Rather than providing |13|advice or behavioral change strategies, discussions employ mindful inquiry and focus on detailed explorations of participants’ experiences of mindfulness, whether positive, negative, or neutral, while modeling a curious, nonjudgmental, and accepting stance toward whatever is being shared. Poetry and metaphors are frequently used to model the processes of mindfulness. Psychoeducation regarding the science of mindfulness and tools to integrate mindfulness into daily living are also provided. 2.1.2 Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Developed in 2002 by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale, MBCT integrates cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and MBSR approaches and practices. Grounded in a cognitive model that identifies contributing factors to the vulnerability of relapse, MBCT was developed for individuals with a history of major depression who were currently in remission, to reduce the likelihood of relapse without relying on extended use of medication. According to MBCT, ordinary sad moods may be more likely to reactivate depressive thought content and a ruminative style of thinking among previously depressed individuals. Negative rumination and depressive thought content, compounded with a tendency for behavioral avoidance, is thought to increase the likelihood of another major depressive episode (Segal, Williams, Teasdale, & Gemar, 1996). MBCT teaches practices that foster acceptance and decentering as alternatives to experiential avoidance and rumination. Acceptance in this context can be described as a willingness to fully experience the present moment without defense, making space for all aspects of one’s internal landscape: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. Decentering, defined as the ability to view thoughts and emotions as impermanent and to tolerate aversive experience without engaging in rigid avoidance (Teasdale et al., 2002), involves a nonjudgmental, nonreactive awareness of one’s cognitions, emotions, and sensations as they occur. This approach to the present moment can slow reactivity to mood, increase psychological flexibility, and provide the freedom to choose a new response to habitual stimuli. These shifts in relationship to one’s experiences can reduce the likelihood that mood or negative thoughts will escalate into a...
