6 Ways to Use Mindfulness to Ease Difficult Emotions

a post by Therese J Borchard for the World of Psychology blog



Mindfulness has become quite the buzzword these days, with impressive studies popping up in the news with regularity.

For example, research from the University of Oxford finds that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is just as effective as antidepressants for preventing a relapse of depression. In MBCT, a person learns to pay closer attention to the present moment and to let go of the negative thoughts and ruminations that can trigger depression. They also explore a greater awareness of their own body, identifying stress and signs of depression before a crisis hits.

Four years ago, I took an eight-week intensive Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at Anne Arundel Community Hospital. The course was approved by and modeled from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s incredibly successful program at the University of Massachusetts. I often refer to the wise chapters of Kabat-Zinn’s book, Full Catastrophe Living (which we used as a text book).

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Facing social fears: How do improved participants experience change in mindfulness‐based stress reduction for social anxiety disorder?

an article by Aslak Hjeltnes, Elisabeth Schanche and Per‐Einar Binder (University of Bergen, Norway), Christian Moltu (District General Hospital of Førde, Norway) and Ylva Jansen (Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway) published in Counselling & Psychotherapy Research Volume19 Issue 1 March 2019

Abstract

Background
Clinical trials indicate that mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) may be effective for social anxiety disorder (SAD), but little is known about how young adults with SAD experience this intervention.

Aim
The purpose of this study was to explore how improved participants experience the process of change in MBSR for SAD.

Method
We used a two‐staged mixed methods design to identify participants with reliable and clinically significant improvement on primary outcome measures after an eight‐week MBSR programme (n = 11), and analyse qualitative interviews to explore how they experienced their own process of change. The interviews were analysed using a hermeneutic‐phenomenological thematic analysis.

Results
Thematic analysis revealed five main themes: (1) Using awareness of the body to sense that you are actually here right now, (2) Establishing a space that enables you to see negative thoughts for what they are, (3) Allowing fear and shyness through sustained awareness of physical sensations, (4) Transforming an experience of being inferior with kindness and self‐acceptance, and (5) Discovering new ways of engaging with other people.

Conclusions
Participants described increased awareness and acceptance of sensations, thoughts and feelings, as well as greater self‐acceptance and improved interpersonal relationships during the MBSR programme. Future studies are needed to understand how and why individuals change in mindfulness‐based interventions for SAD.

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