Teaching mindfulness to adolescents

Adolescence is a period of rapid developmental changes that brings with it issues that might be unsettling for many adolescents. These may include wanting more independence from parents, peer influence and acceptance, romantic and sexual relationships, experimenting with substances, and developing s...

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Published inMindfulness-based Interventions with Children and Adolescents pp. 162 - 178
Main Authors Singh, Nirbhay N., Joy, Subhashni D. Singh
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 2021
Edition1
Subjects
Online AccessGet full text
ISBN9781138680463
0367682443
9780367682446
113868046X
DOI10.4324/9781315563862-12

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Summary:Adolescence is a period of rapid developmental changes that brings with it issues that might be unsettling for many adolescents. These may include wanting more independence from parents, peer influence and acceptance, romantic and sexual relationships, experimenting with substances, and developing social and political awareness. For others, there may be issues of adverse childhood experiences, family trauma, poverty, homelessness, out of home placements, and general neglect. In addition to the daily hassles of life, these issues can be stressful enough to lead to mental health problems or disorders. Mindfulness-based interventions have been found to be helpful in ameliorating the symptoms of externalizing and internalizing problems in adolescents. This chapter presents a selection of formal mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) that researchers have used to successfully teach mindfulness to adolescents, and describes informal single mindfulness-based practices that adolescents have used for managing specific behaviors. The kinds of formal MBPs that have been used with adolescents include the two seminal programs-mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)-and their derivatives or customized programs. Single MBPs include Soles of the Feet (SoF), SOBER Breathing Space, and Surfing the Urge. Adolescents appear to be comfortable with these mindfulness practices because they enable them to exercise self-determination, an important developmental issue for adolescents. This chapter presents a selection of formal mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) that researchers have used to successfully teach mindfulness to adolescents, and describes informal single mindfulness-based practices that adolescents have used for managing specific behaviors. The kinds of formal MBPs that have been used with adolescents include the two seminal programs-mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT)-and their derivatives or customized programs. Single MBPs include Soles of the Feet (SoF), SOBER Breathing Space, and Surfing the Urge. The chapter outlines a selection of formal mindfulness-based programs that researchers have used to successfully teach mindfulness to adolescents. It also describes informal single mindfulness-based practices that adolescents have used for managing specific behaviors. Mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness- based cognitive therapy are the prototypic programs in the field of mindfulness-based programs to reduce suffering in adults. The SoF is a mindfulness-based practice that is portable, easy to use, and enables self-management of socially undesirable behavior.
ISBN:9781138680463
0367682443
9780367682446
113868046X
DOI:10.4324/9781315563862-12