Mindfulness-Oriented Interventions for Trauma: Integrating Contemplative Practices

Grounded in research and accumulated clinical wisdom, this book describes a range of ways to integrate mindfulness and other contemplative practices into clinical work with trauma survivors. The volume showcases treatment approaches that can be tailored to this population's needs, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and mindful self-compassion (MSC), among others.

Featuring vivid case material, the book explores which elements of contemplative traditions support recovery and how to apply them safely. Neurobiological foundations of mindfulness-oriented work are examined. Treatment applications are illustrated for specific trauma populations, such as clients with chronic pain, military veterans, and children and adolescents.

Table of Contents

Introduction, Victoria M. Follette, John Briere, Deborah Rozelle, James W. Hopper, & David I. Rome

I. Foundations

1. Pain and Suffering: A Synthesis of Buddhist and Western Approaches to Trauma, John Briere
2. Healing Traumatic Fear: The Wings of Mindfulness and Love, Tara Brach
3. Cultivating Self-Compassion in Trauma Survivors, Christopher K. Germer & Kristin Neff

II. Adapting Contemplative Approaches

4. Mindfulness and Valued Action: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to Working with Trauma Survivors, Jessica Engle & Victoria M. Follette
5. Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Trauma Survivors, Devika R. Fiorillo & Alan E. Fruzzetti
6. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Depression and Trauma, J. Mark G. Williams & Thorsten Barnhofer
7. EMDR and Buddhist Practice: A New Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment, Deborah Rozelle & David J. Lewis
8. The Internal Family Systems Model in Trauma Treatment: Parallels with Mahayana Buddhist Theory and Practice, Richard C. Schwartz & Flint Sparks
9. Teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness to Women with Complex Trauma, Trish Magyari
10. Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: A Contemplative Approach to Healing Trauma, Doralee Grindler Katonah
11. Yoga for Complex Trauma, David Emerson & Elizabeth K. Hopper

III. Neurobiological/Somatic Issues and Approaches

12. Harnessing the Seeking, Satisfaction, and Embodiment Circuitries in Contemplative Approaches to Trauma, James W. Hopper
13. An Interpersonal Neurobiology Approach to Developmental Trauma: The Possible Role of Mindful Awareness in Treatment, Daniel J. Siegel & Moriah Gottman
14. Embedded Relational Mindfulness: A Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Perspective on the Treatment of Trauma, Pat Ogden

IV. Special Applications and Populations

15. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Underserved Trauma Populations, Mary Ann Dutton
16. Mindfulness in the Treatment of Trauma-Related Chronic Pain, Ronald D. Siegel
17. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Loving-Kindness Meditation for Traumatized Veterans, David J. Kearney
18. Treating Childhood Trauma with Mindfulness, Randye J. Semple & Laila A. Madni
19. Mindfulness and Meditation for Trauma-Related Dissociation, Lynn C. Waelde
20. Focusing-Oriented Therapy with an Adolescent Sex Offender, Robert A. Parker
21. Intensive Vipassana Meditation Practice for Traumatized Prisoners, Jenny Phillips & James W. Hopper
22. Cognitively Based Compassion Training for Adolescents, Brooke Dodson-Lavelle, Brendan Ozawa-de Silva, Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, & Charles L. Raison

Conclusion, John Briere, Victoria M. Follette, Deborah Rozelle, James W. Hopper, & David I. Rome

Index

"Provides a wealth of resources. This book shares the broad scope of mindfulness-based interventions for trauma. Follette et al. bring many wise voices into one room for an important learning conversation."
- Sharon Salzberg, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and author of Real Happiness

"Traumatized individuals frequently identify with and internalize what happened to them in ways that are highly negative and stigmatizing. Treatment approaches that interrupt this process have long been needed. Follette et al. have produced a pioneering volume of innovative and integrative techniques that help survivors resolve the effects of the past in order to live self-fulfilling, positive lives in the present and future. A major advance in the trauma treatment literature."
- Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, private practice, Washington, DC; national clinical trauma consultant, Elements Behavioral Health

"This comprehensive review of mindfulness-based interventions for trauma holds promise both for improving our understanding of the processes of change and for stimulating innovations in treatment. The book points the way toward a potentially valuable integration of Western psychological thinking and Eastern Buddhist perspectives, while stressing the importance of grounding any integration in carefully crafted theory and empirical research."
- Josef I. Ruzek, PhD, Director, Dissemination and Training Division, National Center for PTSD, VA Palo Alto Health Care System

"A brilliant and clear exposition of how contemplative practices can be applied to the modern treatment of trauma. The editors weave together the rigor of science, the wisdom of reflection, and years of practical clinical application to offer an illuminating work. I highly recommend this book."
- Shauna Shapiro, PhD, Department of Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University

"This book is especially useful for clinicians working with trauma survivors who do not respond to standard treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder but who may benefit from mindfulness-based interventions delivered within the context of the therapeutic relationship. The book describes a wide range of treatments consistent with a contemplative approach to therapy and validated in part by neurobiological studies and meta-analyses. Whether through the therapist's philosophical commitment to contemplative insights or the client's learning of specific contemplative skills, mindfulness has the potential to decrease a client's identification with the trauma and to increase metacognition, self-awareness, emotion regulation, and life satisfaction."
- Pamela Carlson, Alexander, PhD, Senior Researcher, Outcome Referrals, Inc., Massachusetts