#229 Mindfulness - NOT JUST a goal-oriented therapy

     “Mindfulness is significantly altered in both intent and method when it is separated from its spiritual *** origins and applied in clinical contexts such as psychotherapy and behavioral medicine. The shift from a spiritual to clinical framework requires a consideration of what mindfulness methods are intended to do and how they intend to do it. More specifically, when a clinician conducts guided mindfulness meditation (GMM) and then encourages the client to carry on practicing the core elements of that process, what personal, interpersonal, and contextual factors influence the degree of benefit derived by the client?”

       Yapko MD. Mindfulness and hypnosis. The power of suggestion to transform experience. WW Norton & Co, NY, 2011.

 *** spiritual, in the context of mindfulness' origins, has nothing to do with dogma, and everything to do with skillfully reducing suffering and improving health and quality of life - much like modern health care itself. The real distinction is between the short-term, specific goal-orientation of therapy eg remove something from one's life - like fear of flying, versus the broad, deep life-transforming aims of Mindfulness (MBSR) as taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn's team at UMASS.

See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/10/210-why-mindfulness-meditation.html 

Andre Gallant   http://www.andregallant.com/