MBSR

Mindfulness is a burgeoning field of study and practice within mental health care and medicine. Yet ethical codes, and the philosophy of the therapist-client relationship, differ greatly between disciplines, and even more between those disciplines and mindfulness-based approaches. The potential for ethical dilemmas is therefore significant.

The book breaks new ground by taking a focused look at an ethics derived from contemporary clinical mindfulness practice itself. What does a secular ethics of mindfulness look like? Who is competent to work therapeutically with mindfulness, and how does one delimit areas and levels of competence? How do clinicians ethically understand the therapist-client relationship from the therapeutic position of mindfulness? And how do clinicians respond when the necessary restraints of their professional role and ethics code come into conflict with the mindfulness-based relationship and therapeutic position?

This book makes a vital contribution to the understanding of ethics as the cornerstone of mindfulness-based practice, and will be of interest to all those involved in delivering mindfulness-based interventions, including psychologists, counselors, spiritual directors, occupational therapists, physicians, nurses, and educators.

RESUMO
A pesquisa pretendeu analisar a intervenção de um Programa de Redução de Estresse com Base na Plena Atenção (Prepa), seguindo o método modelado por  John Kabat-Zinn, que usa como recurso principal a meditação, em um grupo de voluntários que convivem com a dependência química e que estão em tratamento no Instituto Psiquiátrico Philippe Pinel, no Rio de Janeiro. O programa é composto de encontros em formato de um curso que dura oito semanas e que integra práticas de meditação, yoga, respiração e mindfullness (atenção plena) nas sensações, percepções, ações e reações, que visam mobilizar nos participantes a capacidade de estarem plenamente atentos aos seus processos e fenômenos físicos e mentais, nas inter-relações no cotidiano de suas vidas.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE
Estresse, meditação, yoga, dependência química, recuperação, psiquismo.

Incorporating elementary meditation techniques inspired by Buddhist practices, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are group-based programs of psychoeducation and self-help skills in behavioral medicine and clinical psychology. MBIs are increasingly employed as aftercare and adjunct care to professional medical and psychological treatments for specific maladies and also for self-care, general emotional well-being, and other psychological goals.

Despite their psychological character and eclectic content only partly inspired by and derived from Buddhadharma, MBIs have increasingly acquired an alternate identity as a form of Buddhadharma itself, as the essence of Buddhadharma recontextualized for the mainstream of society. We critique the claim that MBIs embody the essence of Buddhadharma. They do not aim at the goals of Buddhadharma and do not engage the vital wisdom that leads there. MBIs pursue relief of psychological suffering rather than the transcendental roots that Buddhadharma posits. This places MBIs squarely within clinical psychology and not at all as a form of Buddhadharma, despite their use of meditation.

Instead of Buddhadharma’s essence, however, MBIs do embody important aspects of its form and structure, translated to a very different ontological level. We show this with a methodology of functional and structural analogy that correlates MBIs with deeper strata of Buddhadharma than usual and promotes mutually fruitful dialogue. The relationship based on form and structure has been largely missed thus far because of two factors, both addressed by the analogical methodology: preoccupation with either showing or disproving essential identity and difficulty accepting many assumptions and beliefs of traditional Buddhadharma on their own terms.

The discussion on the Buddhist roots of contemporary mindfulness practices is dominated by a narrative which considers the Theravāda tradition and Theravāda-based ‘neo-vipassanā movement’ as the principal source of Buddhist influences in mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and related mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs). This Theravāda bias fails to acknowledge the significant Mahāyāna Buddhist influences that have informed the pioneering work of Jon Kabat-Zinn in the formation of the MBSR programme. In Kabat-Zinn’s texts, the ‘universal dharma foundation’ of mindfulness practice is grounded in pan-Buddhist teachings on the origins and cessation of suffering. While MBSR methods derive from both Theravāda-based vipassanā and non-dual Mahāyāna approaches, the philosophical foundation of MBSR differs significantly from Theravāda views. Instead, the characteristic principles and insights of MBSR practice indicate significant similarities and historical continuities with contemporary Zen/Sŏn/Thiền and Tibetan Dzogchen teachings based on doctrinal developments within Indian and East Asian Mahāyāna Buddhism.

Qu'est-ce que la méditation ? C'est suspendre son adhésion au monde (épochè), ramener l'attention au corps, observer ce qui se produit à chaque instant. Comme en physique quantique, il s'agit d'une observation paradoxale, sans coupure entre l'observé et l'observeur, ce qui ouvre à une forme de connaissance non duelle et non conceptuelle. La résorption de la conscience dans cet état de présence apaisée et non duelle renvoie à un retour à l'état fondamental en physique quantique. Cet état s'obtient par un phénomène d'intrication entre corps et esprit, grâce au lien entre concentration et observation. A l'inverse, les sauts que la conscience du méditant peut parfois connaître, en re-basculant dans des états agités, ou en accédant à des états de conscience modifiés, peuvent se comprendre comme un phénomène de décohérence. La discussion de ce nouveau modèle d'intrication montre les apports de trois disciplines pour l'expliquer : les neurosciences mettent en évidence les zones cérébrales concernées par la méditation. La phénoménologie énactive permet d'intégrer le vécu du méditant et des états de conscience. La physique quantique apporte un troisième éclairage complémentaire et nouveau pour comprendre le type de mécanisme et de processus qui intervient dans les modifications de la conscience pendant la méditation. L'apport de cette physique quantique ouvre toutefois de nombreuses questions à résoudre dans le futur, sous la forme de trois pistes de recherche : on peut penser que la méditation représente ainsi une voie d'accès privilégiée vers la dimension quantique sous-jacente du monde et de la conscience ; ou que cette dimension quantique représente un éclairage opérationnel et non confessionnel utile au méditant, qui invite finalement à revenir au seul monde de l'apparaitre ; ou enfin qu'elle indique de manière fractaquantique l'existence d'un même type de mesure à de multiples échelles de l'univers.

Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) are conventionally recommended in mental health
care literature as an important way to offer holistic treatment provision to patients. This
study aims to explore multidisciplinary teamwork in contemporary mental health
settings, particularly what aids and hinders the process of multidisciplinary teamworking,
and the social work contribution in such teams. In order to attain an in-depth
exploration of these phenomena, a single case study design was employed. Within this
design, data were generated through semi-structured interviews and structured
observation of a mental health MDT in Ireland. These data were analysed using
interpretative phenomenological analysis. The research highlights how the concept of
mental illness is contested within this MDT, with the medical model dominant within
an environment of fluid working arrangements. Professional role blurring and
stereotyping were found to impact the division of labour on this team, with role
negotiation found to be an integral part of retaining a professional’s practice identity.
This research raises concerns for social work’s capacity to function within mental
health MDTs in Ireland, and highlights ways in which social work educators might
respond in order to empower Irish social workers to meet the challenges of mental
health multidisciplinary teamworking.

For about 25 years, mindfulness meditation attracts growing attention. Developed in the context of a traditional Asian religious tradition, mindfulness meditation originally serves soteriological goals. In therapeutic settings, it has been claimed, it became a secular “consciousness technology”. So far, studies were mainly interested in clinical evidence for salutogenetic effects. Questions if and how practices such as “Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction” (MBSR) are to be conceptualized as “religious” still require further analysis. To provide a more fitting criteriology, we propose to distinguish between “salvific” (“liberating”) and “salvetive” (“healing”) settings of meditation, of which the latter denotes a more “therapeutic” outlook. It will be argued that MBSR bears elements of salvetive, but also of salvific meditation. In the paradigm of a functional differentiation between “religion” and “biomedicine”, its presence in biomedical institutions seems to provide a counterexample, which will be discussed in the final section.

This essay explores the apologetic strategies of Jon Kabat-Zinn, developer of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, with particular attention paid to two essays published in 2011 and 2017, respectively. I argue that the core of Kabat-Zinn's apologetic strategy to defend MBSR from accusations of "watering-down" Buddhism lies with his understanding of the "essence" of the dharma as the Buddha's expression of the Four Noble Truths. This expression by the Buddha is taken by Kabat-Zinn to be based on the Buddha's own experience, and hence to be universal, unconstrained by cultural and historical context-even by Buddhism itself. By first tracing the development of Kabat-Zinn's understanding and placing it within the broader intellectual context of Buddhist modernism, this paper demonstrates the logic at work in Kabat-Zinn's apologetic strategy for MBSR. Having established the logic at play, the paper then turns to elucidating how this logic functions in two of his articles and how it has developed in light of the changing political climate between 2011 and 2017. This paper concludes with a consideration regarding whether Kabat-Zinn's apologetic strategy can be considered Buddhist or if it something altogether different-a "transcultural collage," as Thomas A. Tweed puts it.

In questo articolo presento alcune riflessioni personali sul tema della mindfulness, fornendone inizialmente una introduzione generale, e poi proponendo alcune considerazioni sui suoi punti di forza e di debolezza; nella parte finale metto in evidenza come la mindfulness, nel senso più ampio e integrale di questo termine, cioè come approccio contemplativo alla vita, possa aiutarci a ritrovare quella serenità e felicità, a cui tutti aspiriamo, soprattutto nella nostra società dove la frenesia e l'agitazione la fanno da padrone.

Este trabalho possui quatro partes: (1) definições de mindfulness e síntese do programa MBSR; (2) resumo do artigo de Halland, et al. (2015) que investigou a influência do MBSR sobre o uso de estratégias de coping mais ajustadas a situações de stresse; (3) reflexões sobre o referido artigo (em termos metodológicos); (4) reflexões sobre o estilo de vida: a inclusão da mindfulness nas escolas, nas empresas (entre outras organizações) e como potencial fomentadora de um estilo de vida mais saudável, mitigando os efeitos perniciosos do stresse.
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This paper has four parts: (1) mindfulness definitions and synthesis of the MBSR program; (2) summary of an article by Halland, et al. (2015) that investigated the influence of MBSR on the use of coping strategies more adjusted to situations of stress; (3) considerations on the above article (from a methodologically point of view); (4) reflections about lifestyle: the inclusion of mindfulness in schools, companies (among other organizations) and as a potential promoter of a healthier lifestyle by mitigating the pernicious effects of stress.

Neste trabalho fazemos uma revisão crítica de um programa de treino de competências emocionais, o Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), aplicado à população de pacientes com Perturbação Pós-Stresse Traumático (PPST). Nesse sentido efetuámos um enquadramento taxonómico, uma pesquisa com critérios sistemáticos, descrevemos os contextos de aplicação do MBSR, as suas etapas e a avaliação da sua eficácia bem como os seus efeitos neuroanatómicos, a sua eficiência e a sua efetividade. Finalizamos com algumas considerações sobre limitações na aferição da sua eficácia e salientando a mais-valia da sua aplicação aos profissionais de saúde mental.
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In this paper we do a critical review of an emotional skills training program, the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), applied to the population of patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). To this end, we made a taxonomic framework, a search with systematic criteria, a description of the MBSR and its application contexts and stages, the evaluation of its effectiveness as well as its neuroanatomical effects, efficiency and effectivity. We conclude with some considerations about the limitations assessing MBSR effectiveness and highlighting the worth of its application to the mental health professionals.

This epistolary dialogue between teachers involved with different, but complementary, contemplative practices—mindfulness-based group programs and reading groups (in which people come together to read literary poems or stories)—explores how such practices build community and imbue participants with the potential to act in caring and just ways in other contexts. Through narratives of group experiences and presentations of physiological and neurophysiological evidence, the two correspondents delineate three pedagogical strategies to achieve the desired ends: (1) looking beyond individualism, (2) attending to intensity, and (3) living with the text. Number one notes that students come to a group with expectations for individual progress and satisfaction, which, paradoxically, are most available within and because the atmosphere of group setting holds, supports, and offers each participant opportunities in which each can be fully with and in their experience, or, to put it another way, to touch the “really real.” Number two notes that the more often the group touches the really real, there is formed a more emotionally open human community, to which students belong, and together may move more towards justice and caring. Number three, living with the text, suggests the routes toward such community, which are essential to the contemplative dimension of academic teaching: profound spoken dialogue arising from meditation practice may become unique texts for the group, and literary texts read aloud and responded to also serve to intensify the atmosphere of the moment and quicken an ethical way of knowing that may become available later, in other communities.

Introduction: Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program (MBSR) has shown to be effective for alleviating a wide range of mental and physical symptoms. The present study assesses the
applicability and effect of MBSR in a group of health care providers, consumers of medical and psychological care. Method: 12 participants with heterogeneous diagnoses and socio-demographic characteristics entered this educational and experiential program: 9 sessions (27 hours) modality.
We assessed change in psychotherapy (OQ-45), quality of life (WHOQOL) and in mindfulness skills (FFMQ). Results: MBSR reduced self-reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, and
somatic distress; it increased various aspects of quality of life and mindfulness skills. Discussion: The findings provide evidence that MBSR may act as a benefi cial adjunct to outpatient medical
and psychological management of health care providers.

Systemic Lupus Erytematosus (SLE) is a non-communicable disease that is also an autoimmune disease which is very difficult to identify at the time of initial symptoms, because the appearance of SLE is very diverse and the symptoms and signs resemble many other diseases. The psychological effects associated with SLE patients are significant, and have a considerable impact on their quality of life. The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of meditation that can be done to reduce depression, relieve excessive psychological effects and improve the quality of life of SLE patients. The research method uses article searches conducted on 2 databases, namely PubMed, JAMA and additional Google Scholar. Articles were selected based on inclusion criteria, namely free full text articles in English, Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT), publications for the last 10 years (2011-2021), research conducted on patients with SLE and original articles following the PRISMA protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) reporting article findings. The results obtained in two articles that discuss the effectiveness of meditation on improving the quality of life in patients with SLE. From the 2 articles analyzed, it was found that 2 types of meditation can affect the quality of life of SLE sufferers, namely Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Anapasati Breathing Meditation. Both types of meditation show significant results in reducing stress, relieve suffering, reduce excessive sympathetic activity and improve quality of life in SLE sufferers. Both types of meditation can be an option in improving the quality of life of people with SLE.

Este trabalho possui quatro partes: (1) definições de mindfulness e síntese do programa MBSR; (2) resumo do artigo de Halland, et al. (2015) que investigou a influência do MBSR sobre o uso de estratégias de coping mais ajustadas a situações de stresse; (3) reflexões sobre o referido artigo (em termos metodológicos); (4) reflexões sobre o estilo de vida: a inclusão da mindfulness nas escolas, nas empresas (entre outras organizações) e como potencial fomentadora de um estilo de vida mais saudável, mitigando os efeitos perniciosos do stresse.
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This paper has four parts: (1) mindfulness definitions and synthesis of the MBSR program; (2) summary of an article by Halland, et al. (2015) that investigated the influence of MBSR on the use of coping strategies more adjusted to situations of stress; (3) considerations on the above article (from a methodologically point of view); (4) reflections about lifestyle: the inclusion of mindfulness in schools, companies (among other organizations) and as a potential promoter of a healthier lifestyle by mitigating the pernicious effects of stress.

The purpose of this research is to understand the subjective experience of how mindfulness-based practices and specifically MBSR therapy effect executive brain function (conscious cognition) and affective experience of employees laid off within the past three months and that are between stages one and four of Kubler-Ross’ five-stage model of transition.
Drawing on research that mindfulness-based training maintains and can increase baseline standards of executive brain functioning and affective experience during high stress, this study will examine the hypothesis that mindfulness-based practices such as MBSR will result in positive increases in capacity in both of these domains for people that report themselves to be within stages one through four of Kubler-Ross’ five-stage model of transition. Through a review of the literature in neuro-psychology, behavioral models of transition, and modern theories and philosophies of cognition, this study proposes the use of MBSR therapy for individuals facing life changes and transitions in order to determine the impact mindfulness may have on cognitive capacity and affective experience during a process of adapting to change.
The study population will include 50 director-level, former Microsoft employees laid off within the last three months. In order to manage variability, participants will be vetted for similar age range (within 10 years of one another), female and married. Participants will be divided into Test and Control groups. Each will take a questionnaire prior to and following the study and submit regular reflection journal entries. The Test group will take an 8-week MBSR training. Final questionnaire results will be compared to baseline scores to provide a qualitative evaluation of the efficacy of mindfulness practices in improving cognitive capacity and affective experience.

Franz negyvenes évei elején járó, sikeres osztrák üzletember, akit frissen neveztek ki egy nagy presztízzsel járó beosztásba. A kinevezés érthető módon rengeteg kihívás elé állítja, s teljesen leköti a figyelmét nappal-és sajnos az éjszakák nagy részében is. A hétvégéit feláldozza valamelyik projektje érdekében, az egészsége láthatóan megsínyli a sokszorosan túlfeszített tempót. "Első 90 nap coaching "-ban állapodunk meg, melynek prioritása az időgazdálkodás optimalizálása. Franz konkrét célja az, hogy a három hónap végére kerüljön olyan egyensúlyi állapotba, amikor is kiválóan végzi új munkáját, sikeresen rangsorolja feladatait, tud aludni, van energiája elgondolkodni a számára fontos dolgokon, valamint a hétvégéi egy részét barátokra, szeretteire, sportra fordítja. Az alábbiakban az ő történetét fogom bemutatni, s azt, hogyan járul hozzá a testi és lelki egészség megőrzéséhez a meditáció. Indiából az igazgató tanács üléséig Lágy zene, füstölőillat, lótuszülésben, végtelen, belső nyugalmat tükröző arccal elmélkedő csoport. Sokakban ez a kép jelenik meg elsőre a meditáció szó hallatán. A meditációnak azonban számos formája van. Az elmélyültségnek ilyen magas fokát elérhetjük például sétálva, hegyet mászva, alkotás közben, egy kép előtt, sőt táncolva is.

Background: Medical students are at high risk of depression, distress and burnout, which may adversely affect patient safety. There has been growing interest in mindfulness in medical education to improve medical student well-being. Mindfulnessbased stress reduction (MBSR) is a commonly used, standardized format for teaching mindfulness skills. Previous research has suggested that MBSR may be of particular benefit for medical students. This narrative review aims to further investigate the benefits of MBSR for undergraduate medical students. Methods: A search of the literature was performed using MedLine, Embase, ERIC, PSYCInfo, and CINAHL to identify relevant studies. A total of 102 papers were identified with this search. After review and application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, nine papers were included in the study. Results: MBSR training for medical students was associated with increased measures of psychological well-being and selfcompassion, as well as improvements in stress, psychological distress and mood. Evidence for effect on empathy was mixed, and the single paper measuring burnout showed no effect. Two studies identified qualitative themes which provided context for the quantitative results. Conclusions: MBSR benefits medical student well-being and decreases medical student psychological distress and depression.

Dalam istilah medis, ketergantungan secara khusus mengacu pada kondisi fisik tubuh yang telah beradaptasi dengan kehadiran obat. Ketergantungan obat artinya proses konsumsi obat yang dilakukan secara berulang-ulang melebihi aturan pakai, atau tak sesuai dengan anjuran dokter.  Tujuan penelitian ini adalah : pertama untuk mengetahui metode apa yang diterapkan didalam menanggulangi pasien ketergantungan obat. Kedua untuk mengetahui proses pelaksanaan protokol Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Meta-Analysis (MA)  dan Meditasi Vipassana (mindfulness) dalam menanggulangi pasien ketergantungan obat. Metode penelitian dengan menggunakan pencarian artikel yang dilakukan pada 2 database yaitu PubMed, JAMA dan tambahan Google Scholar. Artikel dipilih berdasarkan kriteria inklusi yaitu artikel full text tidak berbayar dan berbahasa inggris, Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT), publikasi 10 tahun terakhir (2011 – 2021), penelitian dilakukan pada penderita pasien ketergantungan obat dan original article dengan mengikuti protokol PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) pelaporan artikel temuan. Hasil yang didapatkan pada tiga artikel yang membahas mengenai efektifitas meditasi terhadap penanggulangan pada pasien ketergantungan obat. Dari 3 artikel yang dianalisis, ditemukan 3 jenis Meditasi yang dapat meningkatkan penanggulangan ketergantungan obat yaitu Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Meta-Analysis (MA) dan Meditasi Vipassana (mindfulness). Ketiga jenis meditasi ini menunjukkan hasil signifikan dalam mengurangi stres, meringankan penderitaan, mengurangi aktivitas simpatis yang berlebihan dan meningkatkan penanggulangan pada pasien ketergantungan obat. Ketiga jenis meditasi dapat menjadi salah satu pilihan dalam peningkatan penanggulangan pada pasien ketergantungan obat.

Kata Kunci. Meditasi, MBSR, Meta-Analysis (MA) dan Mindfulness.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week, group-based course that employs mindfulness meditation and other potentially self-reflective activities to help participants reduce stress and improve wellbeing. While acknowledging debts to various traditions of Buddhism and other “Eastern” philosophies and practices, MBSR presents itself as a secular practice and avoids any explicit statements about theories of the self.  However, the teacher’s seat in an MBSR course offers a view of the implicit conceptions of the self with which participants are engaged, often unreflectively, and presses teachers to undertake their own reflections on such conceptions, as well as on their own working theory or theories of the self.  The authors, who are highly trained and experienced MBSR teachers in two very different cultural contexts, in Philadelphia and Seoul, propose to use the privileged view from their teachers’ seats to observe and reflect on the theories of self that are at play in their MBSR classes. Through an exchange of letters describing their own practical experiences and theoretical commitments, the authors compare and contrast the conceptions of self that are at play in their classrooms and the theories underlying their pedagogical approaches. This epistolary dialogue explores in an open-ended fashion the practical utility of views of self from Buddhist traditions, with particular reference to Zen; from Hermans’s “dialogical self,” and from Gergen’s “relational being,” among others, inviting readers to their own reflections and conclusions.