Teaching Mindfulness to Create Effective Counselors

Over the last decade a number of researchers have proposed that therapeutic presence can be fostered through training in mindfulness practices. Most counseling training programs focus on teaching students a set of skills, although the common or contextual factors movement contends that the quality of the therapeutic relationship and the personal characteristics of the therapist are the key determinants of positive therapy outcomes. For the past 10 years we have been teaching mindfulness practices to counseling students in a CACREP-accredited program. Our research suggests that training in practices like mindfulness meditation, yoga, qigong, and body-awareness can help counselors to realize and embody the personal characteristics that foster therapeutic presence. This article provides a detailed description of our mindfulness-based course, proposes recommendations for counseling coursework in mindfulness, and discusses the impact of the course on the ability to cultivate therapeutic presence.