Nearly 20 years ago I entered my yoga teacher training. During one of our lectures discussing the importance of mindfulness I was lying on my stomach on the floor, my legs outstretched behind me. All the while, my feet fidgeted and kicked the floor. Eventually, a woman sitting behind me reached down and firmly placed her hands on my feet. The contact between her hands and my feet resulted in a flood of self-awareness. I was embarrassed; I realized that I had been irritating the people around me. However; this invitation into stillness; stopped my “running” and I felt my experience. I began to cry. While I didn’t know it then, this moment served as my initiation into the power of mindfulness.
This experience influenced a personal quest towards self-awareness and embodiment. The process of becoming mindful is a lifelong journey; one that continues to involve humbling moments. I recognize how my auto-pilot can take over. Mindfulness has required a willingness to acknowledge my imperfections and has relied upon a foundation of self-compassion.
As a clinical psychologist, I have also engaged in a passionate inquiry into the benefits of mindfulness in mental health and well-being. My doctoral research explored the use of mind-body interventions in therapy. What I learned is that mindfulness meditation is one of the most researched and fastest growing approaches to mental health and that many professional psychologists are already integrating mindfulness and psychotherapy.
“Mindfulness starts by respecting ourselves and the people we are with. This process is not about pushing an agenda that forsakes connection. Being mindful is not about being smarter, better, or more enlightened. The foundation of mindfulness is acceptance; a practice which strengthens our capacity to honestly reflect upon our own humanness.”
-Dr. Arielle Schwartz
Yoga studios are as common as Starbucks in my town and you can now purchase an app for your smart phone that reminds you to meditate. But, what is mindfulness really and how does it apply to psychotherapy?
Mindfulness within psychotherapy involves engaging in practices that encourage present-centered awareness, a mindset of non-judgment, awareness of a bodily felt sense, relaxation techniques, and awareness of breathing patterns. In many ways, the basic tenants of mindfulness seem to be quite parallel to the teachings of psychology.
Classic psychoanalysis has long provided opportunities for clients to free associate and therefore learn from the process of listening thoughts. Carl Rogers’ client-centered therapy has emphasized unconditional positive regard, an action requiring suspension of judgment so that the client may learn to be more self-accepting. More recently, cognitive behavioral strategies teach clients to manage anxiety or depression by working with the body and breath.
Perhaps, mindfulness is so well integrated into psychotherapy because we are simply reframing practices that have already been in use for many decades.
Within my doctoral research I explored the research discussing the benefits of mindfulness in psychotherapy. The science of the mind-body connection reveals that the body has more to do with thought, perception, memory, decision making, and emotion than previously suspected. There is an inseparable relationship between the psyche and soma. Here are some of the current perspectives of how mindfulness works:
The most important consideration to me when integrating mindfulness and psychotherapy is the relationship I have with the person sitting across from me. Mindfulness is not a religion and it is not necessary to sit and meditate with clients. In fact, it is imperative to start by respecting the world view of the people we are with. While I value the benefits of mindfulness, it is never worth pushing an agenda that forsakes connection. With this in mind, here are some gentle ways to offer mindfulness in psychotherapy:
Being mindful is not about being smarter, better or more enlightened. The foundation of mindfulness is acceptance; a practice that asks us to reflect honestly on ourselves, our choices, and our interactions. Such self-awareness includes a willingness to admit when we are wrong and a commitment to stay engaged until amends are made. Sometimes, mindfulness comes in the form of the hands that firmly touch your feet; inviting you stop running and simply be aware.
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Dr. Arielle Schwartz is a licensed clinical psychologist, wife, and mother in Boulder, CO. She offers trainings for therapists, maintains a private practice, and has passions for the outdoors, yoga, and writing. Dr. Schwartz is the author of The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining Emotional Control and Becoming Whole (Althea press, 2016) and co-author of EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology: Interventions to Enhance Embodiment in Trauma Treatment (Norton, 2018). She is the developer of Resilience-Informed Therapy which applies research on trauma recovery to form a strength-based, trauma treatment model that includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), somatic (body-centered) psychology and time-tested relational psychotherapy. Like Dr. Arielle Schwartz on Facebook, follow her on Linkedin and sign up for email updates to stay up to date with all her posts.
Arielle Schwartz, PhD, is a psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma. She is the author of five books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook.
Dr. Schwartz is an accomplished teacher who guides therapists in the application of EMDR, somatic psychology, parts work therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions for the treatment of trauma and complex PTSD. She guides you through a personal journey of healing in her Sounds True audio program, Trauma Recovery.
She has a depth of understanding, passion, kindness, compassion, joy, and a succinct way of speaking about very complex topics. She is the founder of the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy in Boulder, Colorado where she maintains a private practice providing psychotherapy, supervision, and consultation. Dr. Schwartz believes that that the journey of trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart.
