The effectiveness of Mindfulness as a complement to psychotherapy

This is no coincidence: the versatility of this set of practices inspired by meditation, as well as its simplicity and the possibility of learning its theoretical-practical foundations relatively quickly, play in favor of this tool of well-being becoming popular.

But mindfulness is not simply a fad, or a way to take advantage of its placebo effect: its effectiveness has been proven in several investigations in which the benefits that the use of this practice brings to patients have been reflected.

If you are interested in knowing more about this topic, keep reading, becausehere we will know what is known about the effectiveness of Mindfulness used as a complement to psychological therapy: two ways to improve the lives of patients that reinforce each other.

What is Mindfulness?

First of all, let’s go to the basics: what is Mindfulness, also known as Full Attention (for its translation into Spanish)?

This term is often used to refer to two different meanings: a type of therapeutic resource made up of practices inspired by vipassana meditation, on the one hand, and the state of consciousness that we experience when using those practices, on the other. That is why Mindfulness is sometimes spoken of as a service offered by psychologists and other professionals in the health field, and on the other hand it is spoken of as something that we experience in the first person, an event of our consciousness.

In this article we accept the first definition, that of Mindfulness as a group of practices based on traditional meditation from South Asia. However, the explanation that we have seen so far of what Mindfulness is is somewhat incomplete, so we are going to clarify: Mindfulness is not a religious activity, but has been designed in a scientific context to achieve objectives that objectively improve life. quality of life of people, both in the clinical setting (for example, in hospitals) and outside it (for example, in companies and schools).

That said, let’s see in what ways mindfulness has proven effective in providing benefits for people when combined with psychotherapy.

Samples of the effectiveness of Mindfulness as a complement to psychotherapy

Mindfulness was originally developed by researchers who wanted to use mindfulness as a procedure to help people with stress management problems. The best-known case is that of the researcher who has contributed the most to popularizing Mindfulness,Jon Kabat-Zinn, who created the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR)

However, since this type of intervention programs began to be applied to people with stress disorders, evidence has been appearing that Mindfulness also favors the improvement of well-being in the face of other types of emotional and behavioral problems. This is not entirely surprising, because pooranxiety regulation often appears together with a wide variety of disorders: depression, eating behavior disorders, personality disorders, addictions, etc.

Here we will see a summary of the most important findings about what happens when Mindfulness is combined with psychotherapy. Of course, keep in mind that Mindfulness is not only used in psychological therapy, but also in non-clinical tasks, such as training company employees.

1. Helps Treat Chronic Pain

Mindfulness has been found to make it easier for those with chronic pain. This may be because Mindfulness allows us to gain control over our way of deciding what we focus our attention on. Thus, with the habitual use of these simple practices, it is possible to stop giving crucial importance to the painful sensations that come from a certain part of the body.

In addition, this fact combines very well with many of the tools of psychotherapy, such as cognitive restructuring, in which the psychologist helps the patient not always take for good the most pessimistic interpretation of everything that happens to him.

2. Helps to leave anxiety behind

Many psychological problems linked to anxiety cause unpleasant images or worrying ideas to come to our consciousness over and over again, so that they rarely stop frightening us. Mindfulness combined with psychotherapy helps to not give these ideas and beliefs an importance that they do not deserve, so that we do not give them influence over us. This allows you to disconnect and not have to drag the emotional discomfort of someone who has spent hours obsessed with a worrying idea.

In this way, Mindfulness can be incorporated into psychotherapeutic intervention programs in which the patient is “trained” to face their fears.

3. Help get organized

Mindfulness allows us to adopt a more constructive way of seeing things focused on what we can do in the here and now, and this benefit is noticeable in practically all forms of therapy, since it makes it easier for patients to commit themselves, advance further and drop out of treatment less often.

Are you interested in having the benefits of Mindfulness?

If you are interested in training in Mindfulness or simply noticing its effects on you, we invite you to contact our team: the professionals at the Psicotools center , located in Barcelona (Vallcarca neighborhood).

We have Mindfulness experts who adapt to the needs of each case, whether for individuals or companies.

Bibliographic references

• Didonna F. (2011). Clinical Manual of Mindfulness. Bilbao: Desclée de Brouwer. Hofmann, Stefan G; Sawyer, Alice T; Fang, Angela (2010). The Empirical Status of the “New Wave” of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 33 (3): pp. 701 – 710.
• Khoury, B.; Lecomte, T.; Fortin, G., et al. (August 2013). “Mindfulness-based therapy: a comprehensive meta-analysis”. Clin Psychol Rev (Meta-analysis) 33 (6): pp. 763 – 771.
• McCracken, L. M., & Velleman, S. C. (2010). Psychological flexibility in adults with chronic pain: a study of acceptance, mindfulness, and values-based action in primary care. Pain, 148, pp. 141 – 147.