Promotion of mindfulness in psychotherapists in training: preliminary study.
Ludwig Grepmair, Ferdinand Mitterlehner, Thomas Loew, Marius Nickel
European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists November 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.02.004 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPatients treated by psychotherapists in training who were currently practicing Zen meditation showed significantly better treatment outcomes than those treated by therapists not practicing meditation. The study compared 196 inpatients over a nine-week period: a historical control group of 55 patients treated by therapists without meditation practice, and a group of 58 patients treated by therapists practicing Zen meditation. Outcomes measured using the Session Questionnaire for General and Differential Individual Psychotherapy, the Questionnaire of Changes in Experience and Behaviour, and the Symptom Checklist indicated superior results for the meditation-facilitated group.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Controlled trial with historical control group Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 196 |
| Population | Inpatients treated by psychotherapists in training |
| Intervention | Zen meditation |
| Duration | 9-week period |
| Key finding | Patients whose therapists practiced Zen meditation showed significantly better treatment results than those whose therapists did not. |
Abstract
This study examined whether the promotion of mindfulness in psychotherapists in training can influence the treatment results of their patients. The therapeutic course and treatment results of 196 inpatients, who were treated during a nine week period by nine psychotherapists in training, were compared: in the first phase of the study, the treatment group without (CG, historical control group, n=55), and in the second phase the treatment group with, (MFG, n=58) therapists who were currently practicing Zen meditation. The results of treatment were examined (according to the intent-to-treat principle) with the Session Questionnaire for General and Differential Individual Psychotherapy (STEP), the Questionnaire of Changes in Experience and Behaviour (VEV) and the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R), and showed significantly better results in the MFG.