The Origin Of Mindfulness Therapy For Children And Adolescents Beachwood OH

By Barbara Cook


The recent times there has been an increase in the use of the mindfulness concept. The concept is being used by many people to promote the skills in general wellness of the participants. Originally the focus had been on adults who had stress and anger management related issues. However, a particular emphasis is being given to children and the adolescent due to the discovery of their response to the study; thus, mindfulness therapy for children and adolescents Beachwood OH.

There are various approaches used to achieve the above objective. The main ones include MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction), ACT (The acceptance and commitment therapy) and the DBT (dielectric behaviour therapy). Their method of teaching varies slightly as the ACT focus on psychological behaviour changes. And the other two focus on regular meditation practices.

The MBSR was originally meant for those who had severe medical conditions including chronic pain. It was done as an eight-week program based on a University Medical Centre. With time the curriculum was modified to incorporate stress management. A particular focus was on preventing the relapse of such victims into these conditions.

It is an advanced learning technique that is structured to have some group sessions on a regular basis within the week for the entire program. The learners learn to acquire a formal mindful practice and apply it in their daily lives.

In a regular session, there is an instructor who takes them through. It is opened by short guided meditation. The trainees can then be allowed to share their experiences related to the module. The main session begins by learning about the wandering mind and other concepts related to perception. Focus is put on the development of the inner resources.

The objective of the group and home practices is to develop a better attitude towards life that including focusing switching attention or even retaining it at will. They should be able to feel body sensations without judgement or elaboration. They learn to use breathing as the primary anchor for attention should it scatter and wander away.

An article published in a recent journal shows that the study could have even more potential benefits to a young child or a teen in addition to the basic focusing technique. It has been established that such kids recorded a marked improvement in their arithmetic skills. The kids were also more social as the anxiety levels are low.

The explanation made was regarding basic neurological principles in which a childs mind is considered to be in a plastic state. Therefore, many behavioural changes can be done on the brain and trained to retain it.

That is because the brain is much better at developing the connections in the prefrontal cortex at the fastest rate in the childhood. It has extra plasticity which creates a great potential for the meditation to have the most significant impact.

Many parents who are taking this step to their children can never be thankful enough. That includes those whose children suffer from medical conditions that cause restlessness as one of the symptoms. Conditions such as the autism and the bipolar disorder can be managed much more efficiently through the practice rather than administering anti-depressant.




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