Skillful Means: Expanding the Application of Mindfulness Practices in Human Services

Abstract Several recent articles have provided general overviews of mindfulness practices, their historical roots in the teachings of the Buddha and their contemporary utilization in behavioral health and human services practice for a broad array of issues. This article will review additional practices from the mindfulness tradition that are increasingly being researched and utilized, as well as suggestions for inclusion in human services practice. Introduction Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are now a well-established component of many contemporary treatment programs, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) (Holt & Cottone, 2014). Most of these approaches consist of multi-week programs that cultivate mindfulness through core practices related to bringing mindful awareness to physical sensations, the breath, and to various daily activities, such as eating and walking (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2013). These approaches have repeatedly been shown through multiple randomized controlled trials to be effective interventions for a wide variety of psychological and physical health conditions, including depression, anxiety, stress, chronic pain and hypertension, as well as for fostering and promoting improved mental health, coping abilities and quality of life (Gotink et al., 2015; Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011). MBIs are increasingly being included in human services educational curricula (Lahikainen & Soysa, 2014). A recent article by Holt and Cottone (2014) reviewed the historical origins of mindfulness practices as part of the Buddhist tradition and established how these principles arose from the Buddha's views on psychological suffering and his formulation of the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path as a means to alleviate suffering. In addition to the before mentioned core mindfulness practices in currently established programs, there is an ever growing utilization of various additional techniques to promote emotional health that are also rooted in the Buddhist tradition. Mindful Qualities Branching out from mindfulness practices are techniques for cultivating the Brahmaviharas, or heavenly abodes. These are also often referred to as The Four Immeasurables since the capacity for cultivating and expressing these qualities is believed to be immeasurable. The Brahmaviharas are considered qualities of awareness that support the cessation of psychological suffering and promote psychological well-being. These qualities include experiencing and expressing loving-kindness, joy, compassion and equanimity (Hanh, 1998). The traditions of the Buddha include techniques for systematically developing and strengthening these attributes (Sears, 2014). Loving-kindness practice aims to help the practitioner develop a sense of affirming warmth and regard through concentrating on and reciting, aloud or silently, phrases that express the wish that others experience happiness and not suffer. This sentiment is applied to a range of people and relationships, including the practitioner, her relatives, friends, mentors, and even individuals that she does not know and ones with whom she may experience difficulties (Gunaratana, 2011). There are several approaches for cultivating compassion, but the most popular practice is one from the Tibetan tradition called Tonglen. With Tonglen the practitioner identifies with suffering, theirs as well as the suffering of others, and cultivates the wish that the suffering of all beings be abolished. This can include imagining that suffering is a physical entity being released or purified, such as visualizing suffering as smoke or light (McDonald, 2005). While still in the early stages, research is also now establishing the effectiveness of loving-kindness and compassion practices for a variety of issues with both clinical and non-clinical populations. …