Mindfulness In Psychology

Historical Perspective One of the earlier works done examining self-care relating to professional psychologist was Professionals in distress: Issues, syndromes, and solutions in psychology (Kilburg, Nathan, & Thoreson, 1986). It is the self-proclaimed best sttampt made at the time to address issues of distressed psychologists. There are a numner of frustrations that accompany being a psychologist including academics, teaching, pressure to do research, and mediocre salaries (Kilburg, Nathan, & Thoreson, 1986). Self-care is necessary when the build up cause a decline in the psychologists ability to perform competently.. Professionals in the field of psychology can be their own worst enemies because of the fact they are trained to be independent,

Kabat-Zinn (1993) defined mindfulness as “helping people live each moment of their lives, even the painful ones, as fully as possible.” Mindfulness is related to self-care in that it encourages individuals to look inward at thoughts, feelings, and attitudes occurring in the moment. Professional psychologists are forced to deal with difficult emotions that can arise in session, which can bring up their own personal histories. Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel,(2007), studied the effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on participants in training to become professional therapists. MSRB “is based on the premise that enhancing the capacity to be mindful, to attend to present moment experience in a receptive manner will over time, reduce the identification with self-focused thoughts and emotions that can lead to poorer mental health (Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel 2007; Kabat-Zinn, (1990).” The study by Shapiro, Brown, & Biegel (2007) was done to examine the benefits of engaging in MSRB as a form of self-care. The results found that increasing mindfulness was associated with declines in perceived stress, anxiety, rumination, and increased self-compassion. Professionals with lowers levels of these negative characteristics

As noted in Norcross (2005) a myth exists that mental health physicians do not require personal therapy. The process of therapy can be used as a means of professional growth and can produce benefits associated with development into the profession. Within Norcross (2005), Norcross, Strausser-Kirtland, & Misser (1998) examined benefits occurring from therapist’s who engage in personal therapy. Results specific to self-care showed an improvement in emotional and mental functioning. Clinicians who engaged in person therapy were more likely to find their professional work gratifying. Personal treatment was also found to diminish emotional stress and perceived burdens of the professionals (Norcross, Strausser- Kirtland, & Missar,