Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Beginning With the Body: The Neurobiology of Mindfulness

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cultivating Mindfulness in Clinical Social Work

Part of the book series: Essential Clinical Social Work Series ((ECSWS))

Abstract

In order to gain a more substantial understanding of mindfulness, this chapter will explore the neurobiological underpinnings of the process of mindfulness. With an understanding of the neurobiology, the therapeutic relationship will then be discussed to understand how mindfulness in the therapist and the client impacts the interpersonal therapeutic relationship in treatment. The author utilizes mindfulness with a mandated intensive outpatient treatment (IOT) program for substance use and discusses that experience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Anderson, F. S., & Gold, J. (2003). Trauma, dissociation, and conflict: The space where neuroscience, cognitive science, and psychoanalysis overlap. Psychoanalytic Psychology., 20, 536–541.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Appel, J., & Kim-Appel, D. (2009). Mindfulness: Implications for substance abuse and addiction. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 7(4), 506–512.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bergen-Cico, D., Possemato, K., & Pigeon, W. (2014). Reductions in cortisol associated with primary care brief mindfulness program for veterans with PTSD. Medical Care, 52, 25–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, A., Tanay, G., & Vujanovic, A. A. (2011). Concurrent relations between mindful attention and awareness and psychopathology among trauma-exposed adults: Preliminary evidence of transdiagnostic resilience. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25(2), 99–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bormann, J. E., Oman, D., Walter, K. H., & Johnson, B. D. (2014). Mindful attention increases and mediates psychological outcomes following mantram repetition practice in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Medical Care, 52, 13–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, J., Sinha, R., Chen, J., Michalsen, R., Babuscio, T., Nich, C., et al. (2009). Mindfulness training and stress reactivity in substance abuse: Results from a randomized, controlled stage I pilot study. Substance Abuse, 30(4), 306–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, J. A., Bowen, S., Smith, J. T., Marlatt, G. A., & Potenza, M. N. (2010). Mindfulness-based treatments for co-occurring depression and substance use disorders: What can we learn from the brain? Addiction, 105(10), 1698–1706.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cozolino, L. (2010). The neuroscience of psychotherapy: Building and rebuilding the human brain (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, R. J. (2003). Affective neuroscience and psychophysiology: Toward a synthesis. Psychophysiology, 40(5), 655–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dick, A. M., Niles, B. L., Street, A. E., DiMartino, D. M., & Mitchell, K. S. (2014). Examining mechanisms of change in a yoga intervention for women: The influence of mindfulness, psychological flexibility, and emotion regulation on PTSD symptoms. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(12), 1170–1182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dickie, E. W., Brunet, A., Akerib, V., & Armony, J. L. (2011). Neural correlates of recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder: A longitudinal fMRI investigation of memory encoding. Neuropsychologia, 49(7), 1771–1778.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doctor, R. M., & Shiromoto, F. N. (2010). The encyclopedia of trauma and traumatic stress disorders. New York, NY: Facts on File.

    Google Scholar 

  • El Khoury-Malhame, M. M., Reynaud, E., Soriano, A., Michael, K., Salgado-Pineda, P., Zendjidjian, X., et al. (2011). Amygdala activity correlates with attentional bias in PTSD. Neuropsychologia, 49(7), 1969–1973.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fetzner, M. G., Peluso, D. L., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2014). Tolerating distress after trauma: Differential associations between distress tolerance and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 36(3), 475–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garland, E. L., & Roberts-Lewis, A. (2013). Differential roles of thought suppression and dispositional mindfulness in posttraumatic stress symptoms and craving. Addictive Behaviors, 38(2), 1555–1562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hinton, D. E., Ojserkis, R. A., Jalal, B., Peou, S., & Hofmann, S. G. (2013). Loving-kindness in the treatment of traumatized refugees and minority groups: A typology of mindfulness and the nodal network model of affect and affect regulation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(8), 817–828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölzel, B., Lazar, S., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 537–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life (1st ed.). New York: Hyperion.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, D. J., McDermott, K., Malte, C., Martinez, M., & Simpson, T. L. (2012). Association of participation in a mindfulness program with measures of PTSD, depression and quality of life in a veteran sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 68(1), 101–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, D. J., McDermott, K., Malte, C., Martinez, M., & Simpson, T. L. (2013). Effects of participation in a mindfulness program for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled pilot study. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 14–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, C. E., Sacchet, M. D., Lazar, S. W., Moore, C. I., & Jones, S. R. (2013). Mindfulness starts with the body: Somatosensory attention and top-down modulation of cortical alpha rhythms in mindfulness meditation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makinson, R. A., & Young, J. S. (2012). Cognitive behavioral therapy and the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: Where counseling and neuroscience meet. Journal of Counseling & Development, 90(2), 131–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michal, M., Beutel, M. E., Jordan, J., Zimmermann, M., Wolters, S., & Heidenreich, T. (2007). Depersonalization, mindfulness, and childhood trauma. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 195(8), 693–696.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, S. D., Brody, L. R., & Dierberger, A. E. (2009). Mindfulness and experiential avoidance as predictors and outcomes of the narrative emotional disclosure task. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(9), 971–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, C. A., & Carver, L. J. (1998). The effects of stress and trauma on brain and memory: A view from developmental cognitive neuroscience. Development and Psychopathology, 10(4), 793–809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northcut, T. B., & Kienow, A. (2014). The trauma trifecta of military sexual trauma: A case study illustrating the integration of mind and body in clinical work with survivors of MST. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42(3), 247–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poon, A., & Danoff-Burg, S. (2011). Mindfulness as a moderator in expressive writing. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67(9), 881–895.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schore, A. N. (2011). The right brain implicit self lies at the core of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 21(75–100), 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, B. W., Ortiz, J. A., Steffen, L. E., Tooley, E. M., Wiggins, K. T., Yeater, E. A., et al. (2011). Mindfulness is associated with fewer PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, physical symptoms, and alcohol problems in urban firefighters. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(5), 613–617.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suvak, M., & Barrett, L. (2011). Considering PTSD from the perspective of brain processes: A psychological construction approach. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 24(1), 3–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tronick, E. (2007). The neurobehavioral and social-emotional development of infants and children. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A. (1988). The trauma spectrum: The interaction of biological and social events in the genesis of the trauma response. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1(3), 273–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A. (2002). Posttraumatic therapy in the age of neuroscience. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 12, 3.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A. (2006). Clinical implications of neuroscience research in PTSD. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1071, 277–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B., Greenberg, M., Boyd, H., & Krystal, J. (1985). Inescapable shock, neurotransmitters, and addiction to trauma: Toward a psychobiology of post traumatic stress. Biological Psychiatry, 20(3), 314–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A., Roth, S., Pelcovitz, D., Sunday, S., Spinazzola, J., van, K. B. A., & Courtois, C. A. (2005). Disorders of extreme stress: The empirical foundation of a complex adaptation to trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18(5), 389–399.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vujanovic, A., Niles, B., Pietrefesa, A., Schmertz, S., Potter, C., Roberts, M. C., et al. (2011). Mindfulness in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder among military veterans. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 42(1), 24–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallin, D. J. (2007). Attachment in psychotherapy. New York: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Clinical Social Work, Chicago, USA

    Natalie Beck

Authors
  1. Natalie Beck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalie Beck .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Terry B. Northcut

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Beck, N. (2017). Beginning With the Body: The Neurobiology of Mindfulness. 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_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43842-9_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43840-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43842-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation