Mindfulness

• mindfulness is defined as an approach to life which emphasises 'being in the present' and regulating thoughts, feelings and emotions in an accepting and non-judgemental way.
• the main features of mindfulness are: atending to and regulating thoughts, feelings and emotions, being in the present, and promoting healthy behaviours.
• mindfulness can be developed through training and by practising certain techniques. cleints reduce their stress by applying these techniques everyday. they can make positive changes to their lives and behaviour as they then experience the present more clearly.
• Kabat-Zinn developed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). this is a programme of standardised techniqies based on Buddhist meditation.
• Elements of MBSR:

  • Mindful focus - observing own thoughts without judging or evaluating them
  • Body scan - focusing awareness of any tense areas of the body until they relax.
  • mindful stretching - focusing on the physical sensations of the body when moving postitions
• MBSR reduces stress because you are less troubled by stressful thoughts as they pass through your mind. it promotes a distraction by focusing attention away from the sources of stress.
• Garland developed a programme for addiction recovery called Mindfulness-Orientated Recovery Enhancement (MORE). As an addictive behaviour is automatic, MORE helps the person become more aware of their behaviour.
• One MORE technique is the chocolate exercise. The client holds a piece of chocolate under their nose and experiences their automatic cravings, linking this with the cravings they get from their addiction. they then switch their attention from the cravings to their breathing, and eventually the cravings go, reducing the power of addictive cues.
• one strength of mindfulness is that there is research evidence supporting the effectiveness of mindfulness based programmes. Wen Li et al reviewed 34 studies and found that MORE had better outcomes than other programmes. this shows that the central concepts of mindfulness can help to manage stress and treat addictions
• one weakness of mindfulness is that it has many weaknesses. for example, the outcomes are often short term. therefore mindfulness based treatments may be no more effective than approaches using exercise or relaxation