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Mindfulness in psychotherapy: an introduction

Chris Mace is consultant psychotherapist to Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust (The Pines, St Michael’s Hospital, Warwick CV34 5QW, UK. Email: C.Mace{at}Warwick.ac.uk), honorary senior lecturer in psychotherapy at the University of Warwick and chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Psychotherapy. He has introduced mindfulness into his own clinical work and is researching its use to reduce stress among patients and professionals.

‘Mindfulness’ has become a popular topic among psychological therapists. This introductory article explains what mindfulness is and how it can be developed, before exploring how it has been incorporated within psychoanalytic and cognitive–behavioural psychotherapies. These reflect general as well as specific presumed therapeutic actions. At present, variations in the way mindfulness is understood, taught and applied mean that it is too early to fully assess its potential. They demonstrate how the use of attention and awareness in therapy cuts across traditional divisions and where mindfulness in therapy is most in need of further investigation.