Mindfulness Meditation for Children

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation has been described as a useful adjunct to behavioral and medical interventions in the effective management of a range of somatic symptoms, including abdominal pain and atopic dermatitis. Mindfulness approaches can be taught to children, adolescents, and their parents to help reduce stress processes that result from and/or exacerbate functional symptoms. Moreover, mindfulness parenting techniques can augment traditional behavioral approaches to improve children’s behavior through specific forms of mindful parent–child interactions. A growing body of empirical studies and clinical experience suggest that the incorporation of mindfulness meditation will enable clinicians to more effectively treat pediatric patients and their families in coping optimally with a range of challenging physical symptoms. This chapter provides a description of mindfulness approaches, theoretical mechanisms of action, literature review, a sample script for a beginning mindfulness exercise, and case studies.