Mindfulness in Psychotherapy: The Experience of Psychotherapists Who Incorporate Mindfulness Into Their Practice

Clinical Impact Statement Question: How can mindfulness be incorporated within Psychodynamic theories and Cognitive-Behavioral Psychotherapy. Findings: Using mindfulness enhances therapeutic relationship, improves case conceptualization, and enriches technique. Meaning: Mindfulness can be viewed as a tool that strengthens the core aspects of both types of therapies. Next Steps: Validating these findings within a quantitative research design. Mindfulness is most commonly defined as the ability to bring one's attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, with complete acceptance and without judgment. The diverse benefits of mindfulness as a therapeutic tool have been widely explored. Nevertheless, when mindfulness is incorporated into psychotherapy it may influence the relationship between the therapist and the patient in diverse manners. This influence appears in the literature as relational mindfulness pertaining to mindfulness practiced in relationship to other people. The present article attempts to delineate the diverse influences of relational mindfulness within the psychotherapeutic setting through Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews conducted with eight psychotherapists recruited from an institution for the teaching of mindfulness for psychotherapists. Analysis revealed influences on the therapist's worldview, on technique, on the presence of the therapist and, on the therapeutic alliance. These aspects are discussed from a psychoanalytic and a cognitive-behavioral framework.