A System’s Approach to Meditation Research: Guidelines and Suggestions
July 12, 2017 DOI: 10.4324/9780203785843-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key points | Proposes that a multidimensional systems framework can clarify and sharpen research on meditation, whether it is studied as a self-regulation strategy or as an altered state of consciousness. Argues that psychoanalytic and behavioral orientations conceptualize meditation differently, and that therapists teaching meditation must be sensitive to client resistances within their chosen therapeutic orientation. |
Abstract
This chapter provides one perspective: a systems framework, involving several dimensions, which may be helpful in providing further clarity and precision when researching meditation, whether as a self-regulation strategy or as an altered state of consciousness. Most of the empirical research on meditation in Western settings has been concerned with looking at physiological and/or behavioral measures related to its use as a self-regulation strategy. From a psychoanalytic standpoint, meditation has been conceptualized as an "evocative" strategy which allows repressed material to come from the unconscious and facilitates controlled regression in the service of the ego. Behaviorally oriented individuals who use meditation in their research or practice view it primarily as a self-regulation strategy for dealing with clinical, health-related, and stress-related concerns. In teaching an individual meditation, the therapist needs to be sensitive to several potential resistances, as well as how s/he will deal with resistance within the framework of their chosen therapeutic orientation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |