Social Work Commons^™

Proficiency Of Social Workers In Teaching Mindfulness-Based Practices And Techniques, Vanessa Morales

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explored the self-rated proficiency of social workers in teaching mindfulness-based practices as part of treatment. It paid special attention to what they feel is the benefit to incorporating mindfulness-based practices (MBPs) into treatment and as their own personal practice. Participant responses of what has helped to develop their perceived expertise are highlighted. The literature on mindfulness reveals that mindfulness-based interventions have been effective at decreasing psychological distress caused by mental illness. MBPs help individuals dealing with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder to gain a sense of control when it comes to their mental health.

The study employed …

Relative Effectiveness Of Mindfulness And Cognitive Behavioral Interventions For Anxiety Disorders: Meta-Analytic Review, Samina K. Singh, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

Increasingly popular mindfulness intervention innovations seem demonstrably effective in alleviating anxiety among people with anxiety disorders. However, the basis of such primary and synthetic evidence has, for the most part, been comparisons with non-active comparison conditions such as waiting lists. The longest-standing and strongest evidence-informed practices in this field have been cognitive behavioral interventions (CBI). This meta-analysis synthesized evidence from nine randomized trials of the relative effectiveness of mindfulness interventions compared to CBIs (i.e., active control groups) in treating anxiety disorders. The sample-weighted synthesis found no statistically or practically significant differences between the two groups on anxiety alleviation: Cohen’s d …

How Therapists Use And Choose Mindfulness To Treat Trauma, Jessica M. King

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This qualitative study used the phenomenological method to examine how therapists use mindfulness therapies and interventions to address trauma-salient issues with their clients. Specifically, it explored therapists’ use of and choices about mindfulness-based treatments when addressing post-traumatic stress symptoms, and trauma-relevant emotion dysregulation and attachment injury. Informants were associate and fully-licensed local therapists, recruited using convenience sampling and snowball sampling by word-of-mouth referrals. Data was collected by semi-structured interviewing. Interview data was analyzed with Moustakas’ (1994) recommended procedures for analysis of phenomenological data. Results, Discussion, Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research are described at the end.

A Heart-Based Sufi Mindfulness Spiritual Practice Employing Self-Journeying, Faruk Arslan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of the human evolution of consciousness. The heart occupies an important place in Sufism and is considered to contain the divine spark that leads to spiritual realization. Fethullah Gülen’s action-oriented Sufi methods described in his book series “The Emerald Hills of the Heart” provides the basis for a heart-based therapeutic intervention through self-journeying, which is the objective of this thesis. These self-purification and mindfulness-related transpersonal methods generate a form of treatment that is culturally sensitive. Through my reflections in this research, I transformed my personal experiences into …