by Mark Schiffman, M.S.
REBT therapists often borrow successful techniques from other therapies and incorporate them into a more classic REBT framework. There was a recent article in TIME magazine that was widely circulated among psychologists and teachers about the use of mindfulness techniques in the classroom. The logic of doing so is that research shows that mindfulness exercises “lower stress, ease anxiety, improve sleep, ward off sickness, reduce depression and even blunt pain” in adults, so why not see if these benefits would accrue in children as well?
Personally, I have always been attracted to the concept of mindfulness but have never actually had success in incorporating it into my routine. Maybe the real reason is that I haven’t tried hard enough, but I have another hypothesis that different personality types would be more successful at it than others. The way I think and interact with my environment just doesn’t seem conducive to a mindful approach. Instead of dealing with stress by being mindful, I much rather poke fun at my irrational thoughts.
While there might not be anything inherently incompatible between REBT and mindfulness, my gut impression is that different people are attracted to the different styles. What do you think? Have you been able to incorporate the two together or do you prefer one over the other?
