What is mindfulness therapy?

“Mindfulness therapy,” says psychologist and practitioner Colin Thompson, is the application of ancient techniques of meditation and mindfulness to modern problems.”

“There are two “pillars” of mindfulness: presence and non-judgement. Mindfulness teaches you to be in the present—without rolling in past thoughts or future worries—and also without judging things.”

Who might mindfulness therapy help?

Colin says that mindfulness therapy has been most useful in helping people cope with anxiety and stress. It has also been shown to help with depression, borderline personality disorder and addiction.

Research indicates that people with chronic pain, and medical patients with a secondary diagnosis of anxiety and/or panic can benefit from receiving mindfulness therapy. Studies have also shown that people who participate in mindfulness therapy have increases in psychological hardiness and coherence, leading to a greater ability to ‘act effectively under high degrees of stress’.

Researchers at the Centre for Mindfulness (an American institution that also offers a training program called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR) say that ‘these changes enhance the experience of self-efficacy in patients and their view of the value of engaging in their own on-going health and wellbeing’.

They also site two decades of published research on the MBSR course, which indicates that the majority of people who complete the course report:

• Lasting decreases in physical and psychological symptoms;
• An increased ability to relax;
• Reductions in pain levels and an enhanced ability to cope with pain that may not go away;
• Greater energy and enthusiasm for life;
• Improved self-esteem; and
• An ability to cope more effectively with both short and long-term stressful situations.

Thus, in addition to helping people cope with specific mental or physical health problems, mindfulness techniques could be considered as part of a workplace health and wellbeing program.

But how could “mindfulness” assist with managing pain? Or worrying? Or mental illness?

Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily get rid of the symptoms associated with the mental and physical health issues described above, but it does make people more able to cope with them. In his e-book Everyday Mindfulness, Colin describes how a group of people with schizophrenia who underwent a course in mindfulness, “reported no reduction in the frequency of symptoms but their hospital admissions were cut in half. They still experienced paranoia and hallucinations but these were not so troublesome any more”.  

What does a mindfulness therapist actually do?

Colin says that he performs two strands of work. The first is teaching mindfulness and meditation in a very general way, which has the effect of calming people down and giving them a sense of distance from their thoughts.

The second is using mindfulness to deal with specific problems. For example, a person’s specific negative thoughts such as, “I’m stupid;” “I’m not worthy;” or “No one could love me.”

“Often these kinds of thoughts aren’t quite conscious,” Colin says. “However, they do influence behaviour. The technique of mindfulness is being aware that these thoughts are there, and that they’re unhelpful. You learn to be ready for them when they appear, so that you can put a distance between yourself and the thoughts.”

“You also learn to become aware that thoughts lead to emotions which lead to body sensations. You can’t deal directly with emotions—telling someone to stop being anxious, for example, isn’t helpful. But you can deal with the thoughts that are linked to the emotions. And you can deal with the body sensations.

“Just sitting and being aware of the body sensations is a useful way of experiencing these emotions that are knocking you around without getting too involved in them. We tend to teach breath meditation, which helps you deal with negative thoughts, and body scanning meditation, as a way of dealing with the body sensations side of the emotions. You’re never pushing things away—you note the emotions and sensations, without running with them.”

There are guided examples of both kinds of meditation on Colin’s website.

In the interests of hard hitting investigative journalism I tried the “Head to Toe” relaxation exercise. Although I wasn’t feeling particularly stressed before commencing this exercise (it was a lazy Sunday afternoon!), by the time I’d finished I felt noticeably more relaxed, positive and—this one surprised me—alert.

How might mindfulness therapy be useful in the workplace, and when returning to work?

Colin and his clients have observed that short periods of mindfulness practiced in the workplace can help with the management of boredom and dissatisfaction. Practicing mindfulness in the workplace can be as simple as “Just coming back to yourself, centring yourself, observing your breath for a few seconds and then continue on with what you were doing.”

A friend of Colin’s uses mindfulness to maximise her productivity. She works for 1 ½ hours, then sits being mindful for 30 minutes, and continues this process throughout the day. She believes that she achieves more when she alternates between work and mindfulness, than if she were to simply work for 8 hours straight.

Colin believes that claimants who are experiencing distress linked to their involvement in the workers’ compensation system would benefit from practicing 15 minutes of mindfulness per day.

Mindfulness therapy can also help people gain a new perspective on conflict. “It helps you find out what it is that you’re telling yourself about the person you’re in conflict with, or about yourself, that is making things difficult,” Colin says.

For more information about the practice, theory and history of mindfulness, Colin’s e-book is a good starting point.  You may also wish to delve into the work of Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn, an American who is often described as the founder of contemporary, therapeutic mindfulness.