Mindfulness‐Based Awareness and Compassion: Predictors of Counselor Empathy and Anxiety

Abstract

Mindfulness-based awareness and compassion were examined as predictors of empathy and anxiety among 152 master's-level counseling interns. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported that awareness and compassion differentially contributed to explaining the variance in counselor empathy and anxiety. Implications for counselor education are discussed.

The Relationship Between State Mindfulness and Working Alliance Among Counselors‐in‐Training

“…In the original IRI, respondents endorse responses on a 5‐point Likert‐type scale, ranging from A ( does not describe me well ) to E ( describes me very well ). The results of prior research have demonstrated adequate reliability evidence for the PT (α = .75) and EC (α = .79) subscales in samples of CITs (C. L. Fulton & Cashwell, ). In the current study, Cronbach's alphas for the PT and EC subscales indicated adequate reliability (see Table ).…”

“…Items for the original FFMQ asked participants to indicate the extent to which statements are true for them by selecting responses on a Likert‐type scale ranging from 1 ( never or very rarely true ) to 5 ( very often or always true ). The FFMQ has demonstrated reliability evidence in samples of CITs (C. L. Fulton & Cashwell, ; Ivers, Johnson, Clarke, Newsome, & Berry, ). The FFMQ‐SF has demonstrated reliability evidence among adults with mild depression or anxiety from the Netherlands (Bohlmeijer et al, ).…”

“…Empathy concerns how a person responds to the experiences of another person, and dispositional empathy concerns the tendency to experience empathy in everyday life (Davis, 1980). Results of previous studies have suggested that dispositional empathy is associated with both dispositional mindfulness (C. L. Fulton & Cashwell, 2015;Greason & Cashwell, 2009) and the working alliance (Forman, 1990). Therefore, dispositional empathy may account for variance shared by state mindfulness and the working alliance among CITs (Kline, 2011).…”

Eastern Thoughts, Western Practices: Meditation and Mindfulness Relaxation Activities for Learning and Well‐Being in Adult and Higher Education

“…Research from neuroscience and psychotherapy keeps confirming positive outcomes associated with meditation techniques for improving health care, including mental health, brain functions, and emotional regulation (Fulton & Cashwell, 2015;Marshall, Laures-Gore, & Love, 2018). The positive effects of Eastern meditation are supported by Western scientific research.…”

The Psycheyana: Historical Roots of Contemporary Mindfulness Practices and Future Implications for Social Work Education

“…These practices are being utilized to both strengthen direct practice clinical skills (Gockel, 2015) and to reduce burnout among social work and counseling students and interns (Gockel, Burton, James & Bryer, 2013;Testa & Sangganjanavanich, 2016). Fulton and Cashwell (2015) observed a positive relationship between mindfulness, compassion and counselor empathy for master's level counselor interns. With regards to burnout Decker and colleagues found that mindfulness reduced compassion fatigue and increased compassion satisfaction among MSW students (Decker, Brown, Ong, & Stiney-Ziskind, 2015), and Bonifas and Napoli (2014) found that mindfulness improved quality of life ratings for MSW students despite levels of stress persisting.…”