| Enhanced mindfulness may imply enhanced consciousness, attention and awareness, metacognition, and even life itself. Studies have implicated mindfulness as a significant factor in mental and physical health. Clients may be assisted to become healthier as they become more mindful and techniques to enhance mindfulness which have been shown to be effective have been incorporated into client treatment systems including Dialectical Behavior Theory (DBT) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT). This study was designed to examine the proposal that therapists must be mindful at a higher level than their clients in order to assist their clients to move to a higher level; the greater the positive disparity between therapist and client mindfulness, the greater may be the potential that the therapist will help the client. Therapist mindfulness was measured using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) and the Mindfulness/Mindlessness Scale (MMS) and attempted to correlate scores with client outcomes as measured by the Outcome Questionnaire 45 (OQ-45). The data of this study do not support a correlation between therapist mindfulness and client outcomes. Refined definitions of constructs of mindfulness, improved measures, and causal path studies may be needed to elicit evidence supporting a relation between therapist mindfulness and client outcomes. |
