Mindfulness : An Emerging Treatment For Youth

Based on the evidence, mindfulness could be expanded to be included in teaching individuals not only intrapersonal skills but also the

In the area of health care professionals and college level students, there is evidence supporting increased stress in these populations. While these are very busy lifestyles, it is important for these individuals to engage in self-care techniques to reduce stress, which in turn could increase emotional health, physical health and life satisfaction. Research supports mindfulness practices used with students and healthcare professionals decreases perceived stress, anxiety and increases life satisfaction (Hedberg et al., 2006; Astin et al., 2005; Goodman et al., 2014; Chowdhury et al., 2016; Biegel et al., 2007). In these very stressful roles, it is important for the individual to be mindful of self-care practices and how this impact their mental health. Mindfulness techniques can be an option for individuals looking to improve mental health and physical well being at a low cost and little time needed. In these roles, self-care can be close to impossible due to time constraints. This literature review will aim to discuss positives effects of mindfulness interventions with students and healthcare professionals and importance in the field.

Mindfulness should be taught in schools because it has been found to have a positive impact on the students ' mental well-being as mentioned above, as well as having positive impacts on a wide range of physical and mental health conditions, on learning and cognition, and on emotional and social skills and wellbeing among adults, according to Katherin (2012). Very little research has been done about mindfulness among the young people as compared to among the adults, with studies carried out so far having some methodological limitations such as limited use of control groups or randomization and small numbers, which result in tentative conclusions. Nevertheless, work is growing rapidly and the results are promising which suggests that mindfulness in schools is well worth doing.

This is an experimental study to test if teens with mood disorders have fewer symptoms when they practice P.E.A.C.E.? PEACE is an acronym for a mindfulness practice attending to the breath, body, thoughts, and emotions. P is for pause; E is for exhale; A is for acknowledged; C is for choice; E is for engage. Mindfulness has the potential to have a impact on teens with mood disorders by enhancing awareness, self-management, self-acceptance. Meditation is used in clinical practice for adults to treat a variety of mental and physical health issues but no current data was found on the effectiveness of teens with mood disorders practicing PEACE in a school-based therapy session. Using these same concepts, the hypothesized

Due to the composition of the sample, there are some limitations related to the generalizability of the study. Most of the participants were first-year undergraduate students (66%), women (80%), and whites (73%). Therefore, the results may not fully apply to men, nonwhites or non-traditional students. At the same time, the results may not be representative in individuals from non-Catholic religious beliefs. Despite the limitations, this study demonstrates the long-term positive effects of mindfulness

In modern day San Francisco the term of mindfulness is nothing new to the residence here. Meditation, acupuncture, yoga, and herbal remedies are heard about almost as often as news of the California drought. The difficult part of all of these terms is attempting to figure out what, if any of them, are right to incorporate into a daily life practice. The hype about mindfulness meditation in particular starts to become clearer as more research findings show the astounding benefits.

Although, since the population is adolescents, the therapist should take into consideration and assess for, as one would in other treatment modalities, abuse, neglect, self-harm, and suicide. It is important for the therapist to be attentive during the mandala art discussions and processing to make sure the adolescent does not present with any sort for abuse, neglect, self-harm, and suicide, and if they do so, then to assess further and take appropriate actions. Furthermore, providing the adolescent with coping skills would be beneficial when they do encounter any sort of high risk situation. When applying mindfulness and mandala art to adolescents who are under 18, it is important to get the clients parental consent, thus if the client’s caregiver(s) do not consent to this sort of treatment, then it may be difficult for the adolescent to receive all the benefits of mindfulness based interventions. Lastly, maintaining confidentiality with an adolescent client is a crucial aspect for the therapist. Breaking confidentiality would not be the best option for a therapist because they do not want to break the trust of the adolescent, unless the client is a danger to themselves or others in which case a caregiver must intervene. The therapist must be clear to the client when they will or will not expose their privacy to their

Sharma, T., Sinha, V. K., & Sayeed, N. (2016). Role of mindfulness in dissociative disorders among adolescents. Indian Journal Of Psychiatry, 58(3), 326-328. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.192013

Mindfulness, in particular, is associated with perspective taking and empathetic responding, relatedness and interpersonal closeness, and emotional communication, and anger management. Therefore, mindfulness may help a teacher be more responsive to individual students. Teaching is an extremely emotionally-demanding profession. Fortunately, studies show that mindfulness-based interventions may promote resilience and reduce the emotional exhaustion that precedes burnout. This can help teachers promote their own sense of well being and self care, in turn maintaining their care and compassion for their students.

Williams et al (2014) compared MBCT with both cognitive psychological education, and treatment as usual, he compared the success rate of the therapy in preventing the relapse of MDD in people currently in remission phase following at least 3 previous episodes. It was consequently found that MBCT provided significant protection against the relapse, for participants with increased vulnerability due to adverse psychological history, but showed no significant advantage in comparison to an active control treatment and usual care over the whole group of patients with persistently recurring depression.

A parent might walk into a classroom in the middle of mindfulness moments and weep for joy. An entire classroom filled with silent, still, and reflecting teenagers might seem like a miracle, but that is far from how the students perceive it.

The results of this systematic review addressing the effectiveness of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in the prevention and relapse reduction of depression and anxiety in adolescents gathered results from 15 peer reviewed articles. The databases PsychINFO, Proquest Sociology, and PubMed were used for the search and five articles were selected from each of the databases for further exploration in order to answer the question: Does the use of mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to decrease levels of anxiety and depression in

By taking the time to dig deeper into a child’s conscience, they can learn how to handle stress and its difficulties. For children who can not rely on their mind for decent support, there is often a backup method such as physical activity. Teenagers can exercise to get their mind off their stressful life and create a more brighter perspective about their life. Also, talking to close family members and friends releases all the tension that builds up when an adolescent keeps all their emotions to themselves, thus, resulting in a more better emotional environment. When will there be a proper cure for stress? Unfortunately, there might never be an official medication to treat or reduce stress, but by using an adolescent's emotional, physical, and verbal skills, they might receive a treatment that is more efficacious than a doctor’s

Hagen, Ingunn, and Usha S. Nayar. "Yoga for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Well-Being: Research Review and Reflections on the Mental Health Potentials of Yoga." Frontiers in Psychiatry. Frontiers Media S.A., 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 01 June 2016

In this paper, I will describe my initial thoughts about the practice of mindfulness and my development regarding practicing it. Furthermore, I will explore the idea of being a mindful therapist and how I am hoping to apply this with patients in the future.