Mindfulness

This chapter provides a brief introduction to mindfulness. It begins by addressing some of the pressures felt by therapists and explains how mindfulness can help, before taking a deeper look at what we mean by mindful awareness, the five elements of mindfulness - acting with awareness; observing; describing; non-reacting; non-judging- and how they relate to one another. The chapter also reflects on how mindfulness relates to the first, second and third person perspective, and how this can impact a person in the working day, be that alone or with clients. Finally, it introduces mirror neurons and considers the role they may play in the therapeutic relationship. Maintaining a mindfulness practice may seem arduous and almost over the top if your primary motivation is to be able to use it with your clients.