Implementing Mindfulness in the Mainstream: Making the Path by Walking It

Abstract

There is expanding interest in mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) within the mainstream. While there are research gaps, there is empirical evidence for these developments. Implementing new evidence into practice is always complex and difficult. Particular complexities and tensions arise when implementing MBPs in the mainstream. MBPs are emerging out of the confluence of different epistemologies—contemplative teaching and practice, and contemporary Western empiricism and culture. In the process of navigating implementation and integrity, and developing a professional practice context for this emerging field, the diverse influences within this confluence need careful attention and thought. Both contemplative practices, and mainstream institutions and professional practice have well-developed ethical understandings and integrity. MBPs aim to balance fidelity to both. This includes the need to further develop skillful expressions of the underpinning theoretical and philosophical framework for MBPs; to sensitively work with the boundary between mainstream and religious mindfulness; to develop organizational structures which support governance and collaboration; to investigate teacher training, supervision models, and teaching competence; to develop consensus on the ethical frameworks on which mainstream MBPs rests; and to build understanding and work skillfully with barriers to access to MBPs. It is equally important to attend to how these developments are conducted. This includes the need to align with values integral to mindfulness, and to hold longer-term intentions and directions, while taking small, deliberate steps in each moment. The MBP field needs to establish itself as a new professional field and stand on its own integrity.

Mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation as standardized session‐introduction in individual therapy: A randomized controlled trial

“…The results of our study are of importance for routine practice, as many practitioners directly integrate mindfulness into their individual therapies without an empirical basis for whether this component actually improves outcomes (Crane, ; Dimidjian & Segal, ). Specifically, our study results deliver preliminary empirical evidence that mindfulness has no statistically significant additional effects in individual CBT for anxiety and depression under routine conditions, but also has no adverse effects (Michalak et al, ).…”

Presence and Lingering: Psychoanalysis in a Mindfulness Frame

“…One danger, as I see it, is that mindfulness has not only become a popular therapy modality, but also a burgeoning enterprise that has entered into mainstream society, in healthcare, schools, public institutions or the business and management world, almost as a panacea for all ills (e.g., see Crane 2017). It is important to see mindfulness as a reflexive and reflective way of life rather than a technique.…”

The Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC): reflections on implementation and development

“…The teacher is key in Mindfulness-Based Programs (MBPs) in creating the conditions for learning and transformation [1][2][3]. The Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) was developed to articulate and assess the main elements of MBP integrity [4,5] This paper takes stock of the MBI:TAC development to date, asking and answering a series of questions: Why do we need a tool to assess MBP teaching?…”

“…A consensus paper from MBSR and MBCT field leaders on the key essential and potential variant ingredients of any program which labels itself 'mindfulness-based' 2. An analysis of the challenges inherent with navigating the integrity of the delivery of mindfulness-based programs in the mainstream, and recommendations on key considerations to enable this 3. The seminal research on the MBI:TAC's psychometric properties which provides a baseline for future studies 4.…”