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What is Mindfulness?
April 12, 2010 by admin
Staying in the Moment
By Leigh Beresford
The work life balancing act can certainly be stressful these days. There is the overactive mind to manage, always trying to stay positive, not dwell on the past or worry about the future, constant reminders to stay in the moment, stop worrying, go with the flow, chill out. It’s all a bit exhausting don’t you think?
I recently returned from two years leave, keen to get back to working within the alcohol and drug area. Prior to my Dovetail role I took a three month temporary contract working as a Dual Diagnosis co-ordinator. It was a great opportunity to get up to speed with the latest happenings in the Alcohol and Drug and Mental Health field. In many of my conversations with workers, Mindfulness was mentioned as a practice that can benefit some clients who are managing addictive behaviour. There are already so many therapeutic interventions to navigate (CBT, DBT, ACT, MBRP, MBCT, MI, MET) and now there’s Mindfulness. I was curious. I always thought Mindfulness was another word for meditation, a way of calming the mind and focusing on the present, something that requires practice. Who has time for that!? I decided to find out, so I asked Google to enlighten me.
I scrolled through articles by Marlatt and Goldstein and also looked at some information from the Melbourne Mindfulness Centre and it seems that the practice of Mindfulness has come from Buddhist philosophy, a modern reworking of ancient meditation traditions designed to help control thoughts in difficult situations when everything feels like it’s spinning out of control. Practicing mindfulness skills can create an awareness of thoughts and bodily sensations which can assist with managing day to day emotions and problems.
This is not about changing your thinking but simply becoming more aware of negative, unhelpful thoughts. In a therapeutic session clients may be encouraged to focus on and get familiar with an upsetting emotion. The aim of this is to create a better understanding of emotions and feelings so they can regain control over thinking patterns. Over time these thoughts and feelings may disappear altogether. It is well documented that this is not an easy task, and one that requires some commitment to regular practice.
So how can Mindfulness benefit clients having issues with Alcohol and other Drugs? Where does it fit? According to Goldstein (2008) in some therapeutic environments Mindfulness techniques are now being used to assist clients to cope with urges to use and relapse in addiction. He suggests that whatever our addiction or behaviour, it is often preceded by a triggering event that creates uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and sensations that can lead to cravings and urges to use. Mindfulness skills can assist in slowing down time, bringing awareness back to the moment, jumping from automatic back to manual drive, creating the ability to regain control. Marlatt (2005) says that urges and cravings can be triggered due to poor awareness of emotions, defensive styles of thinking and negative automatic interpretations of events and they can strike without warning. When taught Mindfulness skills clients will be prepared to recognise the cues and have the ability to tune back in to the present moment and respond accordingly. It’s about learning how to relate to the experience differently, therefore breaking the relapse cycle.
Researching this topic has increased my interest in Mindfulness so I have enrolled in a special training event at the Alcohol and Drug Training and Resource Unit called “Reclaiming Mindfulness: A Contemplative Science for Human Flourishing” on May 25 2010. I’d better prepare my mantra… ommmm!
References:
Elisha Goldstein 2008
http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/2844/1/Addiction-Triggers-Urges-and-Using-Mindfulness-and-Urge-Surfing/Page1.html
Spirituality, mindfulness and substance abuse
Sarah Bowen, Janis Leigh, G Alan Marlatt
Addictive Behaviors
Volume 30 Issue 7, August 2005, Pages 1335-1341
Mindfulness-Based Relapse Preventiion for Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders
Katie Witkiewitz, G Alan Marlatt, Denise Walker
Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, October 2005
For more information check out:
http://www.actmindfully.com.au
http://www.stillmind.com.au
Further reading:
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Delta.
Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The mindful way through depression. New York: Guilford Press.
