Mindfulness-based interventions for trauma and its consequences.
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Commentary |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Kearney recounts that his mindfulness teaching, research, and program organizing began nearly 15 years ago with the goal of easing suffering in patients with chronic medical conditions rather than addressing trauma or PTSD, motivated by a perceived need for self-care avenues in a large academic VA hospital. He also describes being introduced to meditation as a medical student in the 1980s and finding daily practice centering. |
Abstract
Our journey teaching, researching, and organizing mindfulness programs did not begin with a focus on trauma or posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Instead, my (David Kearney’s) aim nearly 15 years ago was to offer mindfulness programs with the hope that teaching mindfulness would mitigate the suffering of patients with chronic medical conditions. Although the system in which I practice medicine, a large academic Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, was adept at providing state-of-the art testing and an up-todate array of medications, surgeries, and procedures to treat symptoms and ailments, what seemed needed were more avenues to help people take a more active role in caring for themselves, especially when faced with difficulties that could not be cured or made to go away. I had been introduced to meditation practice in the 1980s as a medical student, when I sat in on a group led by some ahead-of-their-time therapists who encouraged people with substance use disorders to meditate. I recall at the time being immediately struck by how setting aside a few minutes each day for meditation practice helped me to maintain a sense of centeredness throughout the day, and how the practice felt intuitively healthy and