Mindfulness in family counseling and therapy experiences Cover Image

Praktyka uważności w pracy z rodziną. Z doświadczeń poradnictwa rodzinnego i terapii
Mindfulness in family counseling and therapy experiences

Author(s): Andrzej Ładyżyński
Subject(s): History, Social Sciences, Education, Sociology, Social history
Published by: Zakład Historii Edukacji w Instytucie Pedagogiki Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
Keywords: mindfulness; family counseling; therapy

Summary/Abstract: The aim of this article is to demonstrate the practice of mindfulness in the family counseling. Family counseling as well as therapy offers a lot of possibilities. There are at least a couple of schools of therapeutic work with the family. Every school has its own theories as well as effective and validated techniques. In such practice, virtues of the counselor and the quality of his therapeutic alliance between him and the family are especially important. Both features are connected with the issue of special gravity, namely with therapist’s mindfulness, which includes elementary and spontaneous openness to experience. It can be as well understood as a virtue, characteristic feature, remarkable ability to continuous improvement. The author referring to the source literature and his own experiences with working with families reflects upon the mindfulness of the therapist as a practice of upholding the non-judgemental attention, which fosters the process of accompanying the family, building the relationship with them, helping them and achieving the desired changes. The results demonstrate significance of the therapist’s mindfulness as an instrument facilitating better understanding of the family. The attitude of nurturing the attention, the art of insight and sympathy shaped by him supports the family in managing to get to a subtance of the problem. Mindfullness in work with the whole family (or its part) is a special challenge for a therapist. Hetries to share his attention with every member of the family system. His mindfulness stimulates the family to practice resignation from inattention. Thus, it constitues a way to a mutual understanding as a consequence.

  • Issue Year: XVII/2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 277-287
  • Page Count: 11
  • Language: English, Polish