Treating others as we treat ourselves: A qualitative study of the influence of psychotherapists’ mindfulness meditation practice on their psychotherapeutic work

Shireen, Huma; Siemers, Nellie; Dor-Ziderman, Yair; Knaüper, Bärbel; Moodley, Roy

doi:10.1007/s12144-021-02565-y

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In addition, this RCT highlights the importance of studying the role of personal practice in psychotherapists’ performance (Murphy et al, 2018; Shireen et al, 2022). Along these lines, several studies point out the importance of meditation-based programs and psychotherapy self-practice/self-reflection to psychotherapists, concluding that they are valuable for training and personal/professional development (Bennett-Levy & Finlay-Jones, 2018; Rønnestad et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention in psychotherapists and their patients: Empathy, symptomatology, and mechanisms of change in a randomized controlled trial.

Garrote-Caparrós¹,

Lecuona²,

Bellosta-Batalla³

et al. 2023

Psychotherapy

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In recent years, mindfulness and compassion-based interventions (MCBI) have been found to beneficially influence the acquisition of essential skills in psychotherapy and are a promising way to improve relationships with patients. In this regard, new studies are needed to evaluate the effects of MCBI on psychotherapists and their patients and to analyze the influence of these effects on the processes and outcomes of psychotherapy. In this randomized controlled trial, we evaluate the efficacy of an MCBI in psychotherapists’ mindfulness skills and self-reported empathy, as well as its indirect effect on patients (patient-reported psychotherapists’ empathy, therapeutic bond, and symptomatology). Finally, we present a multilevel structural equation model (MSEM) to analyze the relationship between these variables in psychotherapists and their patients. A group of psychotherapists (N = 63) were randomized to an MCBI or an active control group (empathy diary). We assessed psychotherapists and their patients (N = 121) before and after the MCBI and at follow-up evaluation. Psychotherapists’ results showed an increase in psychotherapeutic mindfulness skills (PMS) after the MCBI and at follow-up, whereas self-reported empathy improved at follow-up. Patients’ results showed an improvement in perceived empathy, therapeutic bond, and symptomatology after the MCBI. The improvements in symptomatology were maintained for somatization and anxiety at follow-up. According to the MSEM, the increase in PMS is related to an increase in patient-reported psychotherapists’ empathy, which produces an improvement in therapeutic bond and their symptomatology. These results support the benefits of introducing MCBI in psychotherapists’ training to improve the psychotherapy outcomes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention in psychotherapists and their patients: Empathy, symptomatology, and mechanisms of change in a randomized controlled trial.

Garrote-Caparrós¹,

Lecuona²,

Bellosta-Batalla³

et al. 2023

Psychotherapy

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“…Data were analyzed using thematic analysis using QSR International’s NVivo-12 software (2018). First, H. S., who has previous experience in qualitative research [ 50 ], trained S. C. in coding lines of the interview to calibrate this process. Both H. S. and S. C. then independently coded the interviews.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenomenological support for escape theory: a qualitative study using explicitation interviews with emotional eaters

et al. 2022

Self Cite

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The current study explored the phenomenology of emotional eating, that is, the descriptive knowledge of what one perceives, senses, and knows in one's immediate awareness and experience during emotional eating. Eight individuals with emotional eating were interviewed twice using explicitation interviewing. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis, which resulted in nine themes describing the diachronic (or temporal) unfolding of emotional eating and several sub-themes that described various synchronic (or experiential) dimensions of this unfolding. The core findings of this study support the escape theory of emotional eating and recommend future directions to investigate the self-related shifts proposed by this theory. Namely, the findings show that individuals tend to use food to regulate their emotions by reducing the unpleasant experience of negative emotions and the associated unpleasant narrative processing or ruminations about stressors that caused the negative emotions. This then leads to an urge to eat associated with a desire for the sensory experience of eating. Eating then enables individuals to reduce thoughts about their stressors and bring themselves into the present moment through embodiment. Future quantitative research could investigate this mechanism of shifting from narrative to embodied processing to regulate emotions in emotional eating to develop treatment programs, such as mindfulness-based programs, that could encourage such a shift and emotion regulation without the use of food.

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“…For nearly a quarter-century, the idea of mindfulness has intrigued academics. According to one popular definition of mindfulness is defined as paying attention to the present moment with a nonjudgmental attitude (Reb et al, 2018 ; Shireen et al, 2022 ). Mindfulness is one method in evolving field of mind-body or alternative therapy, which describes an individual’s physical, psychological, and spiritual safety resources (John Lothes et al, 2019 ; Thimm & Johnsen, 2020 ).…”

Section: Theoretical Foundation and Hypotheses Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Students are at risk? Elucidating the impact of health risks of COVID-19 on emotional exhaustion and academic performance: role of mindfulness and online interaction quality

Khan

2023

Curr Psychol

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Although previous online learning studies have looked at how student outcomes are influenced in different settings, this study is unique in that it looks at the role of COVID-19 as a particular stressor. This study discussed how students’ perceptions of health risks of COVID-19 (PHRC) influenced their academic performance through emotional exhaustion. This study also looked at how mindfulness and online interaction quality (OIQ) affected PHRC’s direct effects on exhaustion, as well as PHRC’s indirect effects on academic performance via exhaustion. The data for the current study were collected from 336 students in three waves who were studying online during COVID-19. The results through structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that PHRC influenced academic performance. The results further revealed that mindfulness and OIQ attenuated the direct effects of PHRC on emotional exhaustion as well as indirect effects on academic performance through emotional exhaustion. This study provides some novel implications for practice and research.

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Treating others as we treat ourselves: A qualitative study of the influence of psychotherapists’ mindfulness meditation practice on their psychotherapeutic work

Cited by 4 publications

References 38 publications

Efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention in psychotherapists and their patients: Empathy, symptomatology, and mechanisms of change in a randomized controlled trial.

Efficacy of a mindfulness and compassion-based intervention in psychotherapists and their patients: Empathy, symptomatology, and mechanisms of change in a randomized controlled trial.

Phenomenological support for escape theory: a qualitative study using explicitation interviews with emotional eaters

Students are at risk? Elucidating the impact of health risks of COVID-19 on emotional exhaustion and academic performance: role of mindfulness and online interaction quality

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