Clarifying the construct of mindfulness in the context of emotion regulation and the process of change in therapy.

Mindfulness can improve emotion regulation, a key component of mental health linked to various forms of psychopathology. The authors describe measurement work supporting a consensus definition of mindfulness and show how mindfulness enhances both stabilizing and destabilizing aspects of therapeutic change, illustrated in a treatment program for depression.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Bishop et al. (this issue) propose an operational definition of mindfulness developed by a recent consensus panel. The group provides a solid empirical framework from which to develop measures of mindfulness, and they propose an exciting research agenda. We describe measurement development work from our research group that provides initial support for the proposed consensus definition and that examines mindfulness in relation to emotion regulation variables. We extend the discussion by describing how mindfulness can enhance the stabilizing and destabilizing aspects of therapeutic change, and we illustrate this in the context of our treatment program for depression. Key words: acceptance, cognitive-behavioral therapy, emotion regulation, emotion reactivity, mindfulness, meditation, therapy change processes. [Clin Psychol Sci Prac 11: 255–262, 2004] Several lines of research are converging on the idea that emotion regulation is an essential component of mental health and that problems of regulation are associated with a variety of forms of psychopathology (Cicchetti,