Main description:

Eastern spirituality has exerted considerable influence on the fields of counseling and psychology through the use of mindfulness-based practices. This book serves as a practical introduction to integrating mindfulness-based practices in therapy, with a focus on assessing whether it is appropriate to use or adapt mindfulness activities to the specific cultural identity or identities of clients. Interventions can be adapted to account for clients' religious/spiritual identity, gender norms, racial/ethnic background, community values and pressures, personality traits, unfamiliarity with mindfulness-based practices, cognitive flexibility, and individual life experiences. The authors present an approach to integrating mindfulness in therapy that emphasizes cultural humility, which combines an accurate view of oneself (including limits in one's awareness, knowledge, and skills for working with individuals from diverse groups) with the ability to cultivate an "other-oriented" stance, thus enhancing one's ability to work with clients from a variety of cultural backgrounds. By incorporating this client-centered approach, therapists will be better able to align the therapy process with clients' values, narratives about change, and therapy goals.

Contents:

Acknowledgments
Preface
Section I. Conceptual and Personal Foundations
Chapter 1. Cultural Humility and Mindfulness: Why This, Why Now?
Chapter 2. What We Need to Know About Mindfulness
Chapter 3. Mindfulness and Cultural Diversity
Chapter 4. A Multicultural Orientation Perspective of Mindfulness
Chapter 5. Increasing Cultural Comfort With Religious/Spiritual Diversity
Section II. Application of the Multicultural Orientation Framework in Stages of Therapy
Chapter 6. Assessing the Appropriateness of Mindfulness Interventions for Clients
Chapter 7. Negotiating the Plan
Chapter 8. Earning Trust Within Religious/Spiritual Communities
Chapter 9. Integrating Mindfulness in the Real World
Appendix A. Mindfulness Measures
Appendix B. Audio or Video Examples of Mindfulness Activities