Abstract
As mindfulness interventions become more mainstream in clinical social work, exploring these cognitive practices with individuals diagnosed with serious mental illness may provide a bridge to recovery that instills clients with hope, empowerment, and resilience. As clients learn to cultivate internal awareness, in the present moment, without a sense of self, social, or moral judgment, they may experience a willingness to accept life as it unfolds, with greater curiosity and more adaptive response behaviors. Research supports the hypothesis that mindfulness practices, in particular mindfulness meditation, essentially train the mind and change the structure and functions of the brain. In doing so, they provide a concrete process for building skills that may positively impact recovery and the quality of one’s life (Begley 2008; Treadway and Lazar 2010). In this way, regular mindfulness practices instill a sense of learned helpfulness, provided by one’s increased capacity to observe what is happening internally first, and respond in ways that feel more helpful. Focus is given to highlighting a mindfulness meditation practice facilitated weekly in a psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) group setting with individuals with serious and persistent mental illness.
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Strauss, R. (2017). Beginning with the Modality: Learned Helpfulness in Mindful Group Work with Individuals with Serious Mental Illness. In: Northcut, T. (eds) Cultivating Mindfulness in Clinical Social Work. Essential Clinical Social Work Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43842-9_10
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