Counselling psychology is increasingly curious regarding the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. This research explores the relationship between the clinical work of psychotherapists and their long-term Buddhist-informed meditation. This is an emerging and cross-cultural field. Thorne's (2008) interpretive description guided this exploratory qualitative study of the experiences of four registered psychologists. This study finds that meditation supports an unconditional, compassionate therapeutic stance that serves therapy through the development of the therapeutic relationship. Further, Buddhist-informed meditation appears to promote integrative functioning in the therapists and is related to integrated clinical decision-making. This study dips into areas of transpersonal and Buddhist psychology that require further culturally-sensitive investigation. Future directions for research are presented. / Counselling Psychology

Syftet med studien var att kartlägga hur mindfulness kan användas inom arbetsterapi. Stress, depression, ångest och långvarig smärta är klientgrupper som stadigt ökar. I denna litteraturstudie var det av relevans att undersöka hur mindfulness kan användas inom arbetsterapi, då det visat ha goda effekter inom bland annat psykiatri och kognitiv beteendeterapi. Mindfulness med dess fokus på medveten närvaro, ökad insikt och med ett objektivt och accepterande förhållningssätt kan bidra till ökad delaktighet och med ett större engagemang för klienten i aktivitet. Dataanalysen utgjordes av åtta vetenskapliga artiklar med anknytning till mindfulness och arbetsterapi och mynnade ut i kategorierna Mindfulness som intervention, Resultat av mindfulness som intervention och Begräsningar med mindfulness som intervention. I resultatet framkom att mindfulness som intervention visade på positiva effekter där hantering av svåra situationer blev lättare och symtom för ohälsa inom stress, långvarig smärta, depression och ångest upplevdes ha mindre negativ inverkan på hälsan. En artikel visade att mindfulness inte hade någon effekt för klienter med depression och ångest. Majoriteten av de analyserade artiklarna visade på god effekt både för stressrelaterad ohälsa, depression, ångest, långvarig smärta och för föräldrar till barn med Autism Spektrum Tillstånd. Sammanfattningsvis skulle mindfulness som intervention kunna ge fördelar inom arbetsterapi då ett gemensamt fokus ligger kring delaktighet och engagemang i aktivitet. Mindfulness kan utifrån resultatet bidra till ökad livskvalitet där klientens vardag består av meningsfulla aktiviteter. Med mindfulness integrerat i de vardagliga aktiviteterna eller som meditation kan flertalet klientgrupper gynnas. / The purpose of this study was to examine how mindfulness could be used in occupational therapy. Stress, depression, anxiety and chronic pain are common diseases in the Swedish population. In this literature review it was of relevance to examine how mindfulness could be used in occupational therapy since research in other areas such as psychiatry and cognitive behaviour therapy have shown positive effects using mindfulness. Mindfulness is primarily focused on awareness, insight, ability to obtain an objective perspective and to hold acceptance which for the client can lead to increased participation and a greater engagement in occupations. A number of databases were used in order to find articles which responded to the purpose of this study. A total amount of eight articles were found and analyzed. The articles resulted in the categories Mindfulness as an intervention, Results of mindfulness as an intervention and Limits using mindfulness. The results showed positive effects using mindfulness as an intervention for clients having stressrelated illness, chronic pain, depression and anxiety. Difficult and challenging situations became easier to handle and with less negative effect on the clients health. One article showed that mindfulness had no effects for clients with depression and anxiety. The majority of the articles which were analyzed showed that mindfulness had positive effects for stressrelated illness, depression, anxiety, chronic pain and for parents to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The conclusion came out in a way that occupational therapy could benefit by using mindfulness as an intervention with its primarily focus on participation and engagement in occupations. According to the results in this study mindfulness could bring a higher quality of life for the client by participating in meaningful occupations in their daily lives. With mindfulness integrated in the clients daily occupations or to meditate for mindfulness practice, several client groups could benefit from this form of intervention.

At least one in five Canadians lives with chronic pain, and the prevalence rate is rising. Chronic pain can be a result of injury, disease, surgery, and in some cases, the cause remains unknown. Due to the complexity and variability in the etiology and presentation of chronic pain, it can often be a challenge to implement an appropriate and effective treatment plan. Often, the effects of chronic pain are so debilitating that relief is only available temporarily with pain medication. However, there is the concern and possibility of addiction, health issues, and even increased risk of death with some medicinal interventions. Living with chronic pain can have widespread ramifications, affecting more than just the physical body. This includes psychological, emotional, interpersonal, and vocational challenges. In essence, all aspects of one’s quality of life can be affected by chronic pain. As chronic pain often persists over many years or even the lifetime, it is important to better understand how one might adapt to living with chronic pain. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a structured 8-week program that is commonly used as an intervention for people living with chronic pain, as several research studies have shown promising effects on pain outcomes and quality of life. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, the purpose of this study is to learn about the lived experiences of participating in an 8-week MBSR program from those living with chronic pain. Particularly, it explores how, if at all, an MBSR program may play a role in the participants’ adaptation to living with chronic pain. In depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 3 participants at the end of the MBSR program. They were then analyzed, interpreted and checked by the researcher. The interpretative analysis involved the researcher explicitly detailing their own positioning in order to inform the interpretations and allow for a well-informed continued interpretation and understanding from readers. Overall, participants described several key aspects which may shed light into the benefits that MBSR can have in regards to adaptation to chronic pain as delineated by the following categories: physical pain and pain management, self-perception and identity, relationship dynamics, and emotional equilibrium. Lastly, broader themes included: being heard and understood, letting go and being here, the healing perspective, and moving from surviving to living. The results of this study speaks to the experience of living with chronic pain, and how an MBSR program offers the tools to help facilitate the adaptation process to living with chronic pain, thereby improving quality of life.

Bakgrund: Den psykiska ohälsan ökar stadigt bland barn och unga i skolåldern. Forskning visar att mindfulness främjar individens psykiska och fysiska hälsa. Implementering av mindfulness har blivit allt vanligare i skolor både nationellt som internationellt. Syfte: Att undersöka om mindfulness bidrar till att främja skolelevers psykiska hälsa. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie, metasyntes som inkluderar tio stycken artiklar. Resultat: Det medvetna andetagets främjande effekt visar sig som ett övergripande tema och fyra subtema som visar att mindfulness ökar inre lugn samt reducerar oro och ångest, förbättrar självreglering, ökar koncentration och fokus samt förbättrar relationen till andra och till sig själv. Konklusion: De fynd som framkom styrker mindfulness som intervention i skolan. Mindfulness bidrar till att elever lär sig hantera både inre och yttre faktorer, vilket är gynnsamt för elevens psykiska hälsa och välbefinnande. / Background: Mental ill-health is steadily increasing among children and young people of school age. Research shows that mindfulness promotes the individual's mental and physical health. Implementation of mindfulness has become increasingly common in schools both nationally and internationally. Purpose: To investigate whether mindfulness helps to promote the mental health of school children. Method: A systematic literature study, metasynthesis that includes ten articles. Results: The conscious breath's promoting effect manifests itself as an overarching theme and four subthemes that show that mindfulness increases the student's inner calm and reduces anxiety, improves self-regulation, increases concentration and focus and improves the relationship with others and with themselves. Conclusion: The findings that emerged corroborate mindfulness as intervention in school. Mindfulness helps students learn to deal with both internal and external factors, which is beneficial for the student's mental health and well-being.

Losing a loved one can lead to bereavement grief. It is often accompanied by anxiety, profound sadness, sleep disturbance and lingering depression. Prolonged grief can affect the ability to function properly, through overall reduction in cognitive function. Being able to find effective interventions early on in the grieving process for the bereaved is essential in preventing disorders associated with prolonged sorrow. Mindfulness research has shown that it can improve well-being and a variety of conditions such as stress, anxiety, worry, depression and disturbed sleep. But the research into mindfulness as a potential grief intervention is relatively new and lacking. The aim of this study is to see if the research and literature on the subject can tell us about mindfulness interventions and their benefit to those experiencing bereavement: in particular, the loss of a family member. Four studies were included, making this a more explorative research. In all studies, grief-related psychological conditions as well as grief-levels decreased after the mindfulness intervention, such as depression symptoms, trauma symptoms, anxiety, and any difficulties in emotion regulation.Those with elevated depression or traumatic bereavement seem to experience a larger change in all eviated symptoms after the mindfulness intervention. The findings indicated that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy helped with the ability to emotionally regulate as well as decreasing spontaneous mind-wandering during resting-state. It also seemed to enhance cognitive control and working memory.

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Mindfulness is a form of meditation commonly used as a treatment against symptoms likestress, anxiety and depression that often arises in relation to chronic illnesses like cancer. Research have yielded positive results for mindfulness as a treatment for these symptoms butalso for improvements in attention in healthy people following mindfulness-training. Thepresent study used a within-group design where participants acted as their own control, withmeasures taken before and after a two-week internet-based meditation-intervention withexercises 5 days a week. This was done to investigate if mindfulness-training had any effect onthree different subsystems of attention: alerting, orienting and conflict monitoring. Analysis ofthe results yielded a significant difference in conflict monitoring from pre- to posttest whichsuggests that participants became more resilient towards distractors following mindfulnesstraining. Future research should focus on including more participants and to control fordifferences between already existing groups, for example gender- or age-related differences. / Mindfulness är en form av meditation som vanligtvis användssom en behandling mot symptomsom stress, ångest och depression som ofta uppstår i samband med kroniska sjukdomar somexempelvis cancer. Forskning har visat positiva resultat för mindfulness som behandling fördessa symptom men även på förbättringar i uppmärksamhet hos friska människor till följd avmindfulness-träning. Denna studie använde en inomgrupps-design där deltagarna agerade somsin egen kontroll, med mätningar före och efter en två-veckors internetbaserad mindfulnessintervention med träning 5 dagar i veckan. Detta gjordes för att undersöka om mindfulnessträning har någon påverkan på tre olika subsystem av uppmärksamhet: Beredskap, Orienteringoch Konfliktövervakning. Analys av resultaten visade på en signifikant skillnad ikonfliktövervakning från för-test till efter-test vilket tyder på att deltagarna blev mermotståndskraftiga mot distraktorer vid uppmärksamhetsövningar till följd av mindfulnessträning. Vidare forskning borde fokusera på att inkludera fler deltagare och kontrollera förskillnader mellan redan existerande grupper som exempelvis köns- eller ålders-relateradeskillnader.

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Emotion Regulation refers to the process of controlling our emotions. However, the brain regions which are involved in emotional processes, such as the prefrontal cortices, are the last regions to be developed throughout the human brain. Those who are most affected by this slow development are adolescents especially since they undergo hormonal and neural changes. Previous research has shown mindfulness meditation improves emotional stability and inhibitory control. Since our brain is not fully developed until the age of 25, it is particularly interesting to get knowledge of the effect of mindfulness on emotion regulation in adolescents, which is the aim of this thesis. A total of three studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. The results showed a larger reaction in the amplitude of P2, N2, and late positive potentials on both negative and positive stimuli but not neutral stimuli. Differences were observed in the high vs low mindfulness adolescents in frontal EEG asymmetry during emotion regulation tasks. These findings suggest that even brief mindfulness can have a positive effect on emotion regulation processes by enhancing prefrontal cortices. These findings contribute to the understanding of whether mindfulness affects emotional regulation in a developing brain. However, future research is needed to clarify the effects of mindfulness on emotion regulation in adolescents.

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