Mind the Gap: The History and Philosophy of Health Psychology and Mindfulness

Abstract

The recent surge in popularity of the concept 'mindfulness' in academic, professional, and popular psychology has been remarkable. The ease with which mindfulness has gained trac on in the health sciences and cultural imagina on makes it apparent mindfulness is well-suited to our current social climate, appealing to both experts and laypeople. As a subdiscipline established rela vely late in the twen eth century, health psychology has a unique rela onship to mindfulness. This ar cle elucidates the shared roots between health psychology and mindfulness as a psychological construct and fi eld of research, providing a frame of reference for the ways in which health psychology and mindfulness share similar theore cal and methodological challenges that aff ect their integra on into health, social systems, and services. Keywords: mindfulness, history, philosophy Resumo O recente aumento na popularidade do conceito mindfulness (plena atenção) tem sido notado signifi ca vamente na área acadêmica e professional da psicologia. O termo tem se fortalecido nas ciências da saúde, além do imaginário cultural para expressar um contexto contemporâneo da sociedade, atraindo tanto especialistas quanto leigos. Sendo uma sub-área estabelecida rela vamente tardia no fi nal do século XX, a psicologia da saúde tem uma relação singular com o conceito. Este ar go elucida as raízes compar lhadas entre a psicologia da saúde e mindfulness como uma construção do campo de pesquisa e psicológica, fornecendo um quadro de referência para as maneiras em que a psicologia da saúde e mindfulness compar lham dos semelhantes desafi os teóricos e metodológicos que afetam sua integração com a saúde, sistemas sociais e serviços. Palavras-chave: mindfulness, história, fi losofi a Resumen El reciente aumento en la popularidad del concepto mindfulness (atención plena) ha sido notado signifi ca vamente en el área académica y profesional de la psicología. El término se ha fortalecido en las ciencias de la salud, extrapolando el imaginario cultural para expresar un contexto contemporáneo de la sociedad y, en consecuencia, ha atraído a especialistas y legos. Puesto que es una subárea establecida rela vamente tarde, a fi nales del siglo XX, la psicología de la salud ene una relación singular con el concepto. Este ar culo elucida las raíces compar das entre psicología de la salud y mindfulness como una construcción del campo de inves gación psicológica, proporcionando un marco de referencia para las maneras como la psicología de la salud y mindfulness enen desa os teóricos y metodológicos similares que afectan su integración con la salud, los sistemas sociales y los servicios. Palabras clave: mindfulness, historia,fi loso a 1 Corresponding author at: 150A Behavioural Sciences Building,

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