Mindfulness Teacher Trainees' Experiences (MTTE): An investigation of intense experiences in mindfulness-based interventions.

Erik Jönhagen; Tim Wood; Maria Niemi; Julieta Galante

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0301593

Mindfulness Teacher Trainees' Experiences (MTTE): An investigation of intense experiences in mindfulness-based interventions.

Erik Jönhagen, Tim Wood, Maria Niemi, Julieta Galante

PLoS One 2024 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301593 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract

Characteristics	Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size	13
Population	Mindfulness teacher trainees
Intervention	Mindfulness practice
Duration	4 months
Topics	Meditation
Citations	5
Key findings	Mindfulness practices can produce intense experiences that for some individuals may resemble psychotic-like experiences.

Abstract

With the increasing interest in mindfulness practices within clinical as well as non-clinical settings and the increasing body of research on the positive effects of mindfulness, concerns have been raised that mindfulness might also produce adverse effects including intense experiences and psychosis. The aim of this study was to investigate if intense experiences occur as a natural part of mindfulness practice, and if so to examine the characteristics of such experiences. We conducted a qualitative analysis based on fortnightly meditation reports from 13 mindfulness teacher trainees for 4 months. Intense experiences in meditation were frequently expressed in the reports of most of the practitioners and in some individuals these experiences were similar to psychotic-like experiences. This study presents suggestive evidence that mindfulness practices can produce intense experiences and that for some individuals these intense experiences may resemble psychotic-like experiences.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study	Year	Design	Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan...	2017	Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system	2004	Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety	2006	Exploratory mixed methods study	n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context	2001	Qualitative study	n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators	2013	Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

Citations in the library

Cited by 2

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