Reflections on Practicing Mindfulness with Adolescents with Mental Health Disorders
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Authors
Garcia-Giurgiu, Lucia
Issue Date
2016-05-01
Type
thesis_campus
Language
Keywords
Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education
Psychiatry and Psychology
Alternative Title
Child Development Theses
Abstract
The high rates of mental health disorders among the adolescent population represent an issue of public concern, which have created a demand for effective interventions both to treat and prevent these conditions. Mindfulness-based interventions represent some of these more novel interventions that researchers have suggested could benefit adolescents with a wide range of mental and behavioral conditions. Although most of the existing research has been done on the adult population, there is increasing evidence focused on children and adolescents that will be presented in this thesis. A particular emphasis will be given to the use of mindfulness skills as part of a broadly used evidence based intervention, namely Dialectical Behavior Therapy. My personal experience and reflections on practicing some of the exercises suggested by the creator of this therapy with adolescents in an outpatient hospital setting will be presented. Overall, the reactions by the population I have been working with have been mixed, and have included both negative attitudes and more positive ones. Future research should continue to focus on producing evidence on how mindfulness interventions can both treat and prevent mental health conditions among the adolescent population.