Abstract
Objectives
Research exploring how mindfulness is conceptualized and applied in Western psychotherapeutic settings is in its early stages. The current study examines the influence of psychotherapists’ personal practice of mindfulness meditation on their professional work.
Methods
Psychotherapists who identify as mindfulness teachers were interviewed about their motivation to practice mindfulness practice and how they apply it in both their personal lives and professional psychotherapeutic practice. Grounded theory was used to collect and analyze the data.
Results
The study's findings revealed themes relating to motivation, practices, and therapeutic application of mindfulness which differed among the therapists. Participants were motivated to practice mindfulness meditation based on a utilitarian approach or based on a wider approach, which comprised both a utilitarian and a more contemplative motivation to practice. Importantly, we found that how psychotherapists practiced mindfulness meditation, whether from a utilitarian or contemplative approach, was related to how they used and taught it in their psychotherapeutic practices.
Conclusions
The study's findings suggest a link between the personal and professional practice of mindfulness meditation by psychotherapists. Future research is needed to further investigate this link and to determine its impact on client outcomes.
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Data Availability
The complete dataset has been included as a supplemental document. Raw data is available on the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/cp8w4/).
Code availability
Not applicable.
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The authors would like to acknowledge the time and effort of all the participants included in this study.
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Conceptualization and methodology: Huma Shireen and Roy Moodley; formal analysis and investigation: Huma Shireen, Nellie Siemers, and Yair Dor-Ziderman; writing – original draft preparation: Huma Shireen and Nellie Siemers; writing – review and editing: Huma Shireen, Nellie Siemers, Yair Dor-Ziderman, Bärbel Knäuper, and Roy Moodley; supervision: Yair Dor-Ziderman, Bärbel Knäuper, and Roy Moodley.
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This study was approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board and therefore is in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
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Shireen, H., Siemers, N., Dor-Ziderman, Y. et al. Treating others as we treat ourselves: A qualitative study of the influence of psychotherapists’ mindfulness meditation practice on their psychotherapeutic work. Curr Psychol 42, 13532–13546 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02565-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02565-y