Mindfulness programs were developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts in 1979. It started out as a means to help patients in pain so that they could get through various interventions. The rest is a fast-paced history of the development of an intervention to ease the suffering of people with physical pain, cancer, depression, anxiety, addictions and many other types of difficulties.
Mindfulness is a concept in Buddhism that refers to the quality of attention we pay to events. It is a trained ability to concentrate, pay attention, observe and orient to an ongoing process. That process can be an event that is occurring externally or something going on internally (sensations, emotions). Along with cultivation of the capacity to pay attention to the inner events is the attention to the commentary that goes along with any experience. Slowly, the ability to step back from the commentary stream develops along with the ability to see things more clearly, less judgmentally, and better understanding of what is actually happening.
Most mindfulness programs are delivered in 8 weekly sessions. They may include instructions for sitting and walking meditation which can be silent or guided. There is usually an all day session part way through the program. Topics would include ways to develop awareness of thoughts, sensations in the body, and concepts or ideas about our experience.
Although mindfulness is widely taught as a means of dealing with many psychological issues, it is a new intervention and thankfully the research supporting its use is growing rapidly. There are also many varieties of mindfulness-based interventions developing such as Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for depression relapse prevention, Mindfulness for eating behaviours, pain management, and Mindfulness for drug relapse prevention.
In general, mindfulness programs tend to be of a generic nature, teaching skills to manage life stress. Which program you chose depends on what your needs are and whether the facilitator is trained to work specifically in the area of addictions, pain, severe mental illness, etc.
When applying or inquiring about a program, don’t be afraid to ask very specific questions about the potential of the approach to meet your needs!
