was without a specifically religious component, and was part of a larger study which evaluated Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as a treatment for PTSD
Mindfulness in Psychology
Several definitions of mindfulness have been used in modern psychology. According to various prominent psychological definitions, Mindfulness refers to a psychological quality that involves
bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis,[8]
or involves
paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and
non-judgmentally (emphasis added),[8]
or involves
a kind of non-elaborative,
non-judgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is.[9]
Bishop, Lau, and colleagues (2004)[10] offered a two-component model of mindfulness:
The first component [of mindfulness] involves the self-regulation of attention so that it is maintained on immediate experience, thereby allowing for increased recognition of mental events in the present moment. The second component involves adopting a particular orientation toward one’s experiences in the present moment, an orientation that is characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance.[10]:232
In this two-component model, self-regulated attention (the first component) involves conscious awareness of one's current thoughts, feelings, and surroundings, which can result in metacognitive skills for controlling concentration.[11] Orientation to experience (the second component) involves accepting one's mindstream, maintaining open and curious attitudes, and thinking in alternative categories (developing upon Ellen Langer's research on decision-making). Training in mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices, oftentimes as part of a quiet meditation session, results[citation needed] in the development of a Beginner's mind, or, looking at experiences as if for the first time.
Practicing mindfulness can help people to begin to recognise their habitual patterns of mind, which have developed out of awareness over time [12] and this allows practitioners to respond in new rather than habitual ways to their life.[12]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness_(psychology)
ACT is developed within a pragmatic philosophy called functional contextualism. ACT is based on relational frame theory (RFT), a comprehensive theory of language and cognition that is an offshoot of behavior analysis. ACT differs from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in that rather than trying to teach people to better control their thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories and other private events, ACT teaches them to "just notice," accept, and embrace their private events, especially previously unwanted ones. ACT helps the individual get in contact with a transcendent sense of self known as "self-as-context"—the you that is always there observing and experiencing and yet distinct from one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories. ACT aims to help the individual clarify their personal values and to take action on them, bringing more vitality and meaning to their life in the process, increasing their psychological flexibility.[3]
While Western psychology has typically operated under the "healthy normality" assumption which states that by their nature, humans are psychologically healthy, ACT assumes, rather, that psychological processes of a normal human mind are often destructive.[6] The core conception of ACT is that psychological suffering is usually caused by experiential avoidance, cognitive entanglement, and resulting psychological rigidity that leads to a failure to take needed behavioral steps in accord with core values. As a simple way to summarize the model, ACT views the core of many problems to be due to the concepts represented in the acronym, FEAR:
Fusion with your thoughts
Evaluation of experience
Avoidance of your experience
Reason-giving for your behavior
And the healthy alternative is to ACT:
Accept your reactions and be present
Choose a valued direction
Take action
Core Principles:
ACT commonly employs six core principles to help clients develop psychological flexibility:[6]
Cognitive defusion: Learning methods to reduce the tendency to reify thoughts, images, emotions, and memories
Acceptance: Allowing thoughts to come and go without struggling with them.
Contact with the present moment: Awareness of the here and now, experienced with openness, interest, and receptiveness.
Observing the self: Accessing a transcendent sense of self, a continuity of consciousness which is unchanging.
Values: Discovering what is most important to one's true self.[7]
Committed action: Setting goals according to values and carrying them out responsibly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_therapyThe Six Core Principles provided some very useful tools for living with PTSD.
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