Mindfulness and Couples

Among recent development in couples counseling is the application of mindfulness theory and practice to couples’ interactional patterns. From its roots in Buddhist and other religious and spiritual traditions, mindfulness has three main components: attention training, open awareness to the present moment, and cultivating compassion, all of which can be incorporated into the therapeutic setting. Mindfulness can be seen as an engagement with the world that is attuned to phenomena arising and passing in the present moment, with an attitude of acknowledgment and nonjudgment. Brent Atkinson’s research has shown that mindfulness can aid individuals to become more attuned to their own unconscious inner experience. The intersection of mindfulness and couples suggests that by incorporating more mindfulness into a partnership, through formal and informal practice, couples ...