Why Meditation is Different From Mindfulness-Oriented Psychotherapy

If you've been thinking about meditating because you want the benefits, like:

* the lowered blood pressure
* the greater ability to empathize with others
* the increased sense of calm
* a greater ability to cope with stress
* a sense that you can handle life better
* a greater range of emotions, especially an increased ability to experience more joy, appreciation, and gratitude in your life

then you probably think that meditation and mindfulness-oriented therapy are the same.

But, they're not. 


The truth is that mindfulness-oriented therapy, when it's done in a relational way (where the therapist shares her reflections about her own process or the process of therapy as well as her empathy and insights, and invites the client to do the same), is profound.


You heard me. 
It's profound.


And, the reason is because when something is shared, there is a greater sense of healing. Trauma expert, Judith Herman, M.D., suggests that negative events are less negative if they're shared in community. Add an empathic person to the mix, who truly cares, and this changes everything! 

For example, a study on medical doctors found that patients with colds got better faster than before when their doctors were empathic. (See link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19582635).

But, that's not all.

The other profound difference is that while meditation encourages meditators to treat all emotions as the same, mindfulness-oriented relational therapy aims your focus on positive emotions. 


The result?


Greater joy.


Why? 

Because as you increase your capacity to experience more joy, you prime your brain to release the neurotransmitters, GABA and Oxytocin, which in turn create new neural pathways in your brain. The more these neural pathways are traveled (by thoughts and images in therapy), the more you experience joy.

This also accounts for why it's important to be in therapy focused on your immediate experience in session rather than just passive understanding of the past, and why it's also important to discuss and experience positive as well as negative feelings in session.

See why meditation and mindfulness-oriented psychotherapy are different?

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Dr. Heather Schwartz is a relational and mindfulness-oriented psychologist in private practice in Portland, Oregon who delights in working with warm and expressive people seeking greater connection, inspiration, and empowerment in their lives. 

http://www.heatherschwartzpsyd.com 

Keywords: mindfulness, meditation, psychotherapy, Interpersonal Neurobiology, relationships, relational therapy, joy, coping with stress, emotions.