Implications of psychotherapy research for the study of meditation
Oxford University Press eBooks August 9, 1990 DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198521945.003.0010 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key points | Argues that meditation research is best understood as a form of psychotherapy research, and that borrowing methodological advances and mechanism-of-change frameworks from psychotherapy research would strengthen meditation studies and move them beyond simple questions of efficacy. |
Abstract
This chapter argues that efforts to ascertain the effects of meditation on well-being and health are usefully viewed as falling within the larger domain of psychotherapy research. This perspective on meditation studies offers two main advantages. Firstly, methodological advances in psychotherapy research carry enormous potential for the improvement of meditation research. Secondly, it opens up new avenues of investigation that promise to be more informative than studies that simply ask ‘Does it work?’ To develop this argument, this chapter outlines briefly the history of psychotherapy research, before reviewing in detail key methodological issues bearing upon the validity of studies of any psychosocial treatment, drawing parallels with meditation research at each point. Then it turns to studies of the mechanisms of change in psychotherapy, exploring their relevance for meditation research.