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by Rosemary McIndoe. From her website pathoutofpain.com (Published in “Psychotherapy in Australia” Vol 13 No 1 November 2006): “Mindfulness is both a meditation practice and a way of being in the world. It is choosing to pay attention to what is happening in the present moment with an attitude of acceptance. We can bring mindfulness to our inner world of thoughts, feelings, and sensations or turn our attention outward to our relationships. Mindfulness is a simple concept but difficult to practice because it is the nature of our minds to wander. In mindfulness meditation, placing our attention on the breath gives us an anchor to follow the endless stream of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Learning to let go and return to the breath, over and over again, is the meditation practice. Now, mindfulness is being brought into psychotherapy in different ways.

Mindfulness meditation is taught in the well known program Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction(Kabat Zinn, 1990) and in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Segal, Williams and Teasdale, 2002). Mindfulness training is central to both Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (Linehan, 1993) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (Hayes et al, 1999). However, the use of mindfulness in all of these programs is different to what I will refer to as ‘Mindful psychotherapy’. Mindful psychotherapy involves paying attention, moment by moment, to the therapeutic process and relationship. It does not involve teaching mindfulness meditation although this may be a valuable complement to Mindful psychotherapy. It requires a simple language to allow both therapist and client to stay with their experience moment by moment. I learnt this language during my psychotherapy training in Hakomi, (Kurtz, 1990) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Ogden and Minton, 1991). This language which uses very few words, allows the therapist to contact the client’sexperience as it is happening. This is essential for working mindfully and can assist in creating safety during trauma therapy.

This article will introduce aspects of Mindful psychotherapy which differ from traditional talking therapies and then explore the benefits of using this approach in working with people experiencing chronic and trauma.”