Skills of the Mindful Therapist
Training in Mindfulness-Informed Integrative Psychotherapy enables participants to intentionally and systematically cultivate the following twelve skills of a mindful therapist:
- Mindfulness – being aware of processes occurring in body and mind in the present moment with an attitude of compassionate understanding and acceptance
- Precision in Naming Feelings – accurately identifying and articulating feelings (cf. focusing)
- Empathic Attunement – non-judgmental understanding and emotional resonance with the client
- Observation and Commentary – skillfully noticing and verbalizing the client’s bodily and mental processes
- Concretization – making abstract or vague material more specific and tangible
- Self-Disclosure – appropriately sharing aspects of one’s own experience to foster therapeutic connection
- Linking Problems with Feelings and Needs – connecting the client’s presenting issues with their experienced emotions and unmet needs
- Tolerance of Core Pain – recognizing and bearing feelings of inner emotional suffering
- Recognition of Defenses and Ego States – identifying the client’s defensive strategies and modes of self-experience, and gaining insight into how ethical and unethical actions shape lived experience.
- Identifying and Verbalizing Core Beliefs – bringing implicit fundamental convictions into awareness and words
- Working with Boundaries – maintaining therapeutic limits and refraining from assuming omnipotent responsibility for the client
- Use of Humor – employing humor as a means of gaining perspective and shifting viewpoint
