Ellen Langer's Version of Mindfulness

Recently Dr. Kalea Chapman, whose very good blog (Pasadena Therapist) is here, published an entry in which he provides 11 definitions of the term "mindfulness," which will certainly be a useful thing for those of us who are frequently being asked what it is we are talking about, when we talk about "mindfulness." Interestingly, his list of definitions does not include Ellen Langer's definition, nor any that explain the way that Ellen Langer uses the term, even though Langer has published very extensively about her work in this area. In fact, not long ago, I was involved in a discussion with an individual who believes that she can use Ellen Langer's ideas about mindfulness (instead of training in mindfulness meditation) in a "mindfulness-based" program to enhance wellness. I am not so sure that this will work out as well as she hopes; and, since there are in fact excellent programs (with well-demonstrated effectiveness), based on training in mindfulness meditation, I wonder why anyone would attempt to go in this other direction.

I hasten to add that Ellen Langer is a very well-respected social psychologist at Harvard University. But she is not a clinical or counseling psychologist, and does not work in a setting within which she attempts to develop programs that treat emotional or behavioral problems, or to enhance wellness. She has done very intriguing experiments in nursing homes and in with hotel maids, in which she manipulated certain conditions that altered the subjects' concepts, ideas, and/or sense of control, with positive results. And, in a different direction, she also developed a concept called "mindful learning," originally for use within educational settings. She uses her concepts about what she calls "mindfulness" within the area of creativity, as well. Basically, she has an entirely different concept, but she uses the same term ("mindfulness"). It has caused confusion in some quarters.

Here is a description of Langer's "mindfulness" concept, from a website maintained by Liz MacDonald and Dennis Shirley (at Boston College):

"Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer has written two books... entitled Mindfulness (1989) and The Power of Mindful Learning (1997). In those books, Langer offered a three-fold definition of mindfulness, entailing "the continuous creation of new categories; openness to new information; and an implicit awareness of more than one perspective." She contrasted mindfulness with "mindlessness," which she characterized as "entrapment in old categories; by automatic behavior that precludes attending to new signals; and by action that operates from a single perspective... "

The distinction between Langer's model, and the approach that is used by those who teach and practice mindfulness-based interventions in mental health, is discussed in an article written by scientists who work within the traditions of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, etc. In the article (click here for the online version), the authors explain where Langer's work is situated within the larger array of different approaches that use the term "mindful" or "mindfulness." They acknowledge that there may be some overlap between and among these different approaches, but that there are very significant differences, as well:

"There are a number of constructs that may be within the same general domain as mindfulness as elicited by mindfulness meditation techniques. Most notably is Ellen Langer’s work in social psychology on mindfulness as a creative cognitive process. While both constructs involve attentional engagement, we agree with Langer that her construct is quite different from mindfulness as described in the context of the mindfulness meditation techniques [emphasis added] (see Langer, 1989). Langer’s mindfulness involves the active construction of new categories and meanings when one pays attention to the stimulus properties of primarily external situations, while our own definition emphasizes the inhibition of such elaborative processes as one pays attention to primarily internal stimuli (thoughts, feelings and sensations). Other similar constructs that might fall within the same general domain of mindfulness include flow (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997) and absorption (Tellegan & Atkinson, 1974).

We also see mindfulness within the general domain of constructs that describe the ability to observe the temporal stream of thoughts and feelings including introspection (James, 1890), observing self (Deikman, 1982), presence (Bugental, 1987), reflective functioning (Fonagy & Target, 1996; 1997) and deautomatization/decentering (Safran and Segal, 1990)."

from: "Mindfulness, a proposed operational definition," by Bishop, Lau, Shapiro, et al.

In other words, Langer encourages us to actively engage in cognitive processes related to thinking about what we perceive; to deliberately notice that there are differences and distinctions in the array of things we observe; and to identify (or name) the differences. This (as Langer herself points out) is very different from the practice of mindfulness meditation, and the related practices involving mindfulness in everyday life, in which we observe all that is presented to our mind and our senses, but without deliberately engaging in a lot of thinking about what we are observing. We do notice what our thoughts are, and what our sensations are... but we do not deliberately think about whether this one thing that we are seeing is in a different category than this other thing that we are seeing, or have seen before.

It appears that Langer has found that learning is enhanced when the learner engages in "the active construction of new categories," or when s/he endeavors to "notice differences." However, it is difficult for me to see how this type of cognitive process (although it may be valuable and helpful in educational settings) could be taught within a psychotherapy, wellness, or stress-reduction program; and there is no research whatsoever to support the idea that such a procedure will result in any sort of enhancement in health or wellness-related variables. I agree with Dr. Chapman (and many others!) that Ellen Langer's definition(s) of "mindfulness" do not, at this time, appear to be good candidates for the development of interventions within the context of mindfulness-based interventions in mental health.

It will be interesting to see what the research outcomes and results might be into any wellness programs that use Langer's "mindfulness model."

p.s. The picture that was originally at the top of this post was a copy of "Ignatius Wounded" in battle at Pamplona. Those readers among you who know me will understand why this picture seemed particularly apt to me, on this topic... For others of you, it must regrettably remain a Deep Mystery...

UPDATE: Dr. Langer has a new book out! It's called Counterclockwise. Click here for my announcement and initial description of it.