The Magic of Mindfulness
By Kelly Anderson, PhD
When I was in graduate school, an unseasoned clinician learning how to do therapy, I was first introduced to mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention. Even though mindfulness is not new (and has been used in Eastern countries for centuries), mindfulness was relatively new as a part of therapy when I was in grad school. It wasn’t a treatment component of most of the behavioral and cognitive-behavioral training manuals at that point and was relegated to more recently established therapeutic modalities (these include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy which are considered to be third wave therapies). Therefore, when a supervisor started talking to me about mindfulness and ways to incorporate this into the treatment of my clients, I had an immediate, aversive reaction. I considered things like meditation and mindfulness to be important, but not therapeutic. My initial reaction was “I’m not ‘that’ kind of therapist. I’m a scientist and use scientifically-backed tools and strategies to help support my clients through change.” But, as a lowly student, I was compelled to do what was asked of me by my supervisors and I began to learn about mindfulness as well as utilize it with clients. It didn’t take long after that for me to find the value in mindfulness, to see how useful it could be to clients in a variety of situations, and begin to incorporate mindfulness as a standard tool in my practice.
My gut reaction to hearing “mindfulness” in a therapeutic setting isn’t unique. Not infrequently when I present mindfulness to clients, many have the same initial reaction. They are off-put by what they think mindfulness is or feel like it doesn’t have a place in their treatment. Many of my clients have shared that when first presented with the concept of mindfulness, it felt akin to crystals and essential oils (two things that are pretty, smell nice, and can make great jewelry, but also two things science does not support as creating neurocognitive change). Many of my clients have shared that mindfulness sounds great … but really isn’t effective. Moreover, when clients experience how difficult mindfulness can actually be in practice, it’s not unusual to see their resistance to this tool grow.
You may be asking yourself — what it is about mindfulness that made me such a quick convert to the idea? The simple answer is that mindfulness works. It works very well when used regularly and when used the way it was designed. Mindfulness, when used as a therapeutic technique, is meant to bring awareness to the present moment, as that moment occurs, and allow you to experience that moment (through your five senses, focus on thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations) without judgment. Consistent use of mindfulness allows a person to learn when they are in the here and now versus spiraling in their own mind (living through old memories, worrying about what’s to come, stuck by focusing on their physical pain) or in some cases even dissociating. Being present-focused allows you to slow your mind, reduce attention on the negative/rumination, experience and manage difficult thoughts and emotions, and make choices about how to spend your time and attention which often leads to feelings of joy.
Lets look at are some of the ways that mindfulness has been found, through evidence-based research, as being helpful.
Reducing anxiety, worry thoughts
Reducing Depression
Reducing Obsessions/Compulsions
Reducing experiences of physical pain
Reducing distress around chronic health conditions
Reducing Hallucinations/Delusions
Reducing dissociation
Protection against aging (more white matter than those who don’t meditate)
Increased emotional awareness
Increased interpersonal effectiveness
Increased emotion regulation
While these are just some of the areas mindfulness has been shown through rigorous research to be helpful, these are not the only areas. So what is it that mindfulness is doing to make these changes, or in other words, how does mindfulness work? Researchers would say this happens due to a change in how neurons (brain cells) communicate information to each other. This communication shapes one’s thoughts and our perceptions of experiences, such as how distressing an experience is or how intense our pain is. With the combination of testing, researchers have also noted changes beyond neuronal communication but also to the brain structures themselves. One study showed that after a course of mindfulness training, people had changes in their hippocampus (memory center) where they had more gray matter. This demonstrates increases in that area of the brain — people who have sustained trauma, chronic stress, and depression show decreases of gray matter in these areas. This may indicate recovery in these areas. This same study also noted changes in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) which is largely responsible for self-regulation (regulating impulsiveness), cognitive flexibility (being able to switch between tasks), and novel problem-solving. Following a course of mindfulness, there were improvements in this part of the brain when scans were taken pre and post-mindfulness course.
This is just one example of the research findings that have been published in the last decade speaking to the positive (and visible) brain changes mindfulness can have. Though it doesn’t begin to address the non-visible changes that occur which can’t be measured by brain imaging, such as how the brain communicates with itself (through chemical and electrical means between neruons) which is harder to track and measure.
All this being said, is mindfulness the silver bullet for all maladies? No, and you would be hard-pressed to find me saying that any one tool or strategy is a cure-all. However, mindfulness is a very robust tool in that it can be used to help change your relationship with your internal experiences (thoughts, emotions, physical sensations) as well as your external experiences (being present and in touch with the world around you). These things can help to increase joy, decrease detachment, cope more effectively with physical and emotional pain, and help you to be in contact with thoughts and emotions as they occur.
If you’re new to mindfulness, there are a number of free and paid apps that are wonderful (some mostly free apps I recommend are Insight Timer, Simple Habit, and Smiling Mind, this last one is great for kids and teens). You can also find a few introduction to mindfulness recordings here on the website under the resources tab to learn more and practice!