Therapeutic Mindfulness: what does this innovative discipline consist of?

Mindfulness has proven to be a discipline that helps us value the present and, therefore, to protect ourselves from certain pathologies of our time.

Through a simple premise, this way of understanding life has increasingly taken root in the field of health and therapy. Far from being a fad, Mindfulness is permeating the approach to certain psychological disorders as an effective tool.

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Therapeutic Mindfulness. Javier Elcarte and Cristina Cortés bring us closer to this form of therapy

From this breeding ground arises the Therapeutic Mindfulness, a novel modality that is achieving a great following due to its ability to help in the emotional regulation of patients.

We have met with Javier Elcarte Y Cristina Cortes, founders of vitalize center, who are pioneers in Spain in this therapeutic modality and will explain first-hand what it consists of and the benefits it brings to patients.

Bertrand Regader: What is the conception of Mindfulness that you work with at Vitaliza?

Javier Elcarte and Cristina Cortés: From therapeutic intervention, mindfulness is an invaluable means or resource that helps us achieve emotional regulation. All problems or psychological disorders share the difficulty in emotional regulation, either due to an excess of self-regulation which leads to rigid and inflexible mind or by a deficit of the same, where one is a victim of emotional overflow and chaos.

Alan Shore's affect regulation theory proposes the connection with the right hemisphere in order to discover the models relational procedures and, from there, undertake an intervention that leads to a change in these internal working models (MOI). Curiously, this change is not made from a cognitive level but from the connection and attunement with the other. This interconnection is what helps us to have new experiences of relationship at an implicit level, lived in the body in the present moment. On the other hand, Daniel Siegel synthesizes Shore's ideas and research on mindfulness and attachment integrating them into the theory of personal neurobiology. Siegel applies the principles of interpersonal neurobiology to promote compassion, kindness, resilience, and well-being in our personal lives.

If we compare emerging interpersonal neurophysiological theories of regulation with eastern mindfulness, we see that beyond cultural archetypes, both are seeking the same thing.

Many times it is confused between Mindfulness and the concept of meditation. In your opinion, what are the main differences?

Translate, either from Indo-Aryan languages ​​or from classical Sanskrit, languages ​​in which the Buddha texts are collected, the terms they use to refer to the state of mind Conscious and mental pacification is something very complex for us, since Western languages ​​do not have a linear parallel to express these psycho-emotional concepts.

Something similar happens with the idea of ​​mindfulness, there is not a word in Spanish that fully corresponds to it. So we use different terms like meditation, mindfulness, etc.

Saving the difficulties with the terms, in the East there are different currents of mindfulness and in the West we have also developed different visions of what is sought with mindfulness or aware. We are given to decaffeinate concepts and create self-help phrases where we are able to trivialize ancestral philosophies.

As soon as you study the different Buddhist schools, you discover that their philosophy goes beyond creating a pleasant emotional state. In fact, they do not seek results, they focus on the present moment and on the observation of internal and external experience. that occurs at all times to focus on multiple and varied aspects such as: mental clarity, compassion, love, etc.

What are the keys that make Mindfulness a therapeutic tool, going beyond a simple pleasant or relaxing experience?

The first achievement of mindfulness by bringing attention again and again to the object of mindfulness, usually breathing is mental calm, thus beginning to produce a greater space between thought and thought.

This allows to discover, little by little, in oneself, in the present, the emotional states that are there without attending and that mobilize the defenses and the reactions of the day to day. If one stays on the breath while observing these states, one can experience how the wave of emotion is arriving and ends up extinguishing. The usual thing is that when discomfort arrives we escape from it, avoid it and repress it in a thousand different ways.

In a mindful state we change the response, we remain there, with nowhere to go, observing and accepting the pain. This being there, in a state of acceptance and compassion towards oneself regulates the emotional surge and generates new connections in the right orbitofrontal cortex, somehow dampening the emotional movement of more subcortical.

In mindfulness sessions, are patients also taught to use these techniques on their own?

Practicing mindfulness in a group, at least in the beginning, is very helpful. It makes it easier to stay in that "back and forth to the breath and the present over and over again." A shared state of attention is created, where the mirror neurons of the group work in the same direction.

Of course, individual practice between sessions is equally important to establish and strengthen this new learning.

What types of patients can especially benefit from the use of Mindfulness?

In principle, absolutely all. In fact, in severe disorders like bipolarity, dissociation, etc. The use of mindfulness resources is also recommended.

As a tool for self-awareness and emotional regulation, mindfulness is the basis of any therapeutic intervention and is beneficial for any type of patient.

At Vitaliza you organize courses to learn the theory and practice of Therapeutic Mindfulness. What subjects do you need to master to be able to use this practice fluently?

A wise and friendly psychologist already told us many years ago; "There will come a time when the neurophysiological correlates of mindfulness will be known, but that does not mean being able to reach a state of mindfulness."

That is, talking about subjects and theories in mindfulness does not ensure the state of mindfulness or full attention. Daily and constant practice, with perseverance and without expectations is the way. In the Vitaliza approach, the idea is to integrate mindfulness into our therapeutic intervention. There are many trainings aimed at health professionals where the most knowledgeable knowledge is provided recent research on mindfulness and emotional regulation and attachment. There is a multitude of literature on this.

But even for therapists, there is only one way to learn mindfulness and that is by practicing. The best knowledge of mindfulness is one's own experience.