Teaching Mindfulness in Counseling Practicum

This past weekend I presented a talk at the Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association at Lake of the Ozarks, MO. The topic of my talk was Mindfulness In Action Training; this is the model I use at Avila University to teach our counseling graduate students in the Practicum course. The Practicum is the transition course between traditional content-laden coursework (learning "about" counseling) and the internship (actually "doing" counseling). My goal in Practicum is to teach them as much as possible about the "how to" of counseling. No small task in one semester, especially given the broad array of mainstream theoretical orientations available out there, each with its own somewhat particular set of interventions. Given the impossibility of teaching all the "how to's" of everything from psychodynamic to gestalt, we teach interventions that are (1) well-supported in the peer-reviewed literature; (2) broadly applicable to an array of presenting problems; and (3) consistent with most, if not all, theoretical orientations. We teach a model called Mindfulness In Action, which includes Mindfulness intervetions (drawn from various sources, including Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) as well as Values-Based Behavioral Activation (adapted from various sources, including the literatures on Behavior Therapy, Positive Psychology, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy).

This model has proven very successful from the standpoint of my Practicum students, and very satisfactory to their clients, as well.

I promised the attendees at my talk that I would post a set of recommended readings for them (I forgot to take any handouts!), and here they are!:

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READING/REFERENCE LIST FOR MINDFULNESS IN ACTION:

Anderson, D. T. (2005). Empathy, psychotherapy integration, and meditation: A Buddhist contribution to the common factors movement. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 45, 483-502.

Baer, Ruth A. (2003). Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: a conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 10(2), 125-143.

Baxter, L.R., et al. (1992). Caudate glucose metabolic rate changes with both drug and behavior therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 49, 681-689.

Bishop, S.R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N.D., Carmody, J., Segal, Z.V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., & Devings, G. (2004). Mindfulness; a proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 11(3),230-262.

Breslin, F.C., Zack, M., & McMain, S. An information processing analysis of mindfulness: implications for relapse prevention in the treatment of substance abuse. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 9(3), 275-299.

Brown, K.B., & Ryan, R.M. (2004). Perils and promise in defining and measuring mindfulness: observations from experience. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 11(3), 242-254.

Brody, L.R., & Park, S.H. (2004). Narratives, mindfulness, and the implicit audience. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(2), 147-154.

Brown, W.B., & Ryan, R.M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 84(4), 822-848.

Cahn, B.R. & Polich, J. (2006). Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and neuroimaging studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132(2), 180-211.

Davidson, R.J. et al. (2003). Alterations in brain and immune function produced by mindfulness meditation. Psychosomatic Medicine, 65, 564-570.

Ekman, P. et al. (2005). Buddhist and psychological perspectives on emotion and well- being. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 59-63.

Fredrickson, B.L. (2000). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention and Treatment, 3(0001a), 1-25.

Hayes, A.M. and Feldman, G. (2004). Clarifying the construct of mindfulness in the context of emotion regulation and the process of change in psychotherapy. Clinical Pyschology: Science and Practice, 11, 255-262.

Hayes, S.C. (2002). Acceptance, mindfulness, and science. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 9(1), 101-106.

Hayes, S.C. & Wilson, K.G. (2003). Mindfulness: method and process. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 10(2), 161-165.

Kabat-Zinn, Jon (2003). Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Constructivism in the Human Sciences, 8, 73-83.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: Past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology, Science and Practice, 10, 144-156.

Kitzman, H., & Guyotte, S. (2006). Enhancing health and emotion: mindfulness as a missing link between cognitive therapy and positive psychology. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly. 20(2), 123-134.

Lau, M.A., & McMain, S.F. (2005). Integrating mindfulness meditation with cognitive and behavioral therapies: the challenge of combining acceptance and change based strategies. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 50(13), 863-869.

Lazar, S.W., Kerr, C.E., Wasserman, R.H., Gray, J.R., Greve, D.N., Treadway, M. T., McGarvey, M., Quinn, B.T., Dusek, J.A., Benson, H., Rauch, S.L., Moore, C.I., Fishchl, B. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. NeuroReport, 16(17), 1893-1897.


Marra, T. (2006). Dialectical Behavior therapy in private practice. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 29(4), 324-325.

Martin, J.R. (1997). Mindfulness: a proposed common factor. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 7(4), 291-312.

Martin, J.R. (2002). The common factor of mindfulness-an expanding discourse: comment on Horowitz. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. 12(2), 115-142.

Miller, W.R. & Thorensen, C.E. (2003). Spirituality, religion, and health. American Psychologist, 58(1), 24-35.

Motivala, S.J., et al. (2006). Tai Chi Chih acutely decreases sympathetic nervous system activity in older adults. Journal of Gerontology, 61, 1177-1180.

Proulx, K. (2003). Integrating mindfulness-based stress reduction. Holistic Nursing Practice, 17(4), 201-208.

Roemer, L. and Orsillo, S.M. (2002). Expanding our conceptualization of and treatment for generalized anxiety disorder: Integrating mindfulness/acceptance-based approaches with existing cognitive-behavioral models. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 54-68.

Roemer, L. & Orsillo, S.M. (2003). Mindfulness: a promising intervention strategy in need of further study. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. 10(2), 172-178.

Saxena, S., Brody, A.L, Schwartz, J.M., & Baxter, L.R. ( 1998). Neuroimaging and frontal-subcortical circuitry in obsessive-compulsive disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 26-37.

Scherer-Dickson, N. (2004). Current developments of metacognitive concepts and their clinical implications: mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression. Counseling Psychology Quarterly. 17(2), 223-234.

Schwartz, J.M. (1998). Neuroanatomical aspects of cognitive-behavioral therapy response in obsessive-compulsive disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 38- 44

Seeman, T.E., Dubin, L.F., & Seeman, M. (2003). Religiosity/spirituality and health. American Psychologist, 58(1), 53-63.

Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14.

Seligman, M.E.P., Steen, T.A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress. American Psychologist, 60(5), 410-421.

Shapiro, S.L., Astin, J.A., Bishop, S.R., & Cordova, M. (2005). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for health care professionals: results from a randomized trial. International Journal of Stress Management. 12(2), 164-176.

Shapiro, S.L., Carlson, L.E., Astin, J.A., & Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(3), 373-386.

Siegel, D.J. (2006). An interpersonal neurobiology approach to psychotherapy. Psychiatric Annals, 36, pp. 248-256.

Singh, N.N. et al. (2007). Adolescents with conduct disorder can be mindful of their aggressive behavior. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 15, 56-63.

Teasdale, J.D. et al. (2001). How does cognitive therapy prevent relapse in residual depression? Evidence from a controlled trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 69, 347-357.

Teasdale, J.D., Moore, R.G., Hayhurst, H., Pope, M., Williams, S., & Segal, Z.V. (2002). Metacognitive awareness and prevention of relapse in depression: empirical evidence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(2), 275-287.

Teasdale, J.D. et al. (2002). Metacognitive awareness and prevention of relapse in depression: Empirical evidence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70, 275-287.

Tull, M.T. et al. (2004). The role of experiental avoidance in posttraumatic stress symptoms and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatization. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 192, 754-761.

Urry, Heather L. et al. (2004). Making a life worth living: Neural correlates of well-being. Psychological Science, 15, 367-372.

Wachholtz, A.B., & Pargament, K.I. (2005). Is spirituality a critical ingredient of meditation? Comparing the effects of spiritual meditation, secular meditation, and relaxation on spiritual, psychological, cardiac, and pain outcomes. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28(4), 369-384.

Wallace, B.A. and Shapiro, S.L. (2006). Mental balance and well-being. American Psychologist, 61, 690-701.

Walsh, R. and Shapiro, S.L. (2006). The meeting of meditative disciplines and Western psychology: A mutually enriching dialogue. American Psychologist, 61, 227-239.

Williams, J. M., Duggan, D., Crane, C., & Fennell, M. (2006). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for prevention of recurrence of suicidal behavior. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 62(2), 201-210.

Witkiewitz, K., Marlatt, G.A., and Walker, D. (2005). Mindfulness-based relapse prevention for alcohol and substance use disorders. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 19, 211-228.