Therapeutic Mindfulness: what is this innovative discipline?

We talked to Javier Elcarte and Cristina Cortés, founders of Vitaliza and referents in this field.

Mindfulness has proven to be a discipline that helps us to value the present and, therefore, to protect ourselves from the present. and, therefore, to protect us from certain pathologies of our time.

Through a simple premise, this way of understanding life has increasingly taken root in the field of health and therapy. Far from being a fad, Mindfulness is permeating the approach to certain psychological disorders as an effective tool.

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Therapeutic Mindfulness. Javier Elcarte and Cristina Cortés bring us closer to this form of therapy.

From this breeding ground arises the Therapeutic MindfulnessThis is a new modality that is gaining a large following due to its ability to help in the emotional regulation of patients.

We have met with Javier Elcarte and Cristina Cortés, founders of the Vitaliza center, who are pioneers in Spain in this therapeutic modality and will explain first-hand what it consists of and the benefits it brings to patients.

Bertrand Regader: What is the conception of Mindfulness with which you work in Vitaliza?

Javier Elcarte and Cristina CortésFrom the therapeutic intervention, mindfulness is an invaluable way or resource that helps us to achieve emotional regulation. All psychological problems or disorders share the difficulty in emotional regulation, either by an excess of self-regulation which leads to a rigid and inflexible mind or by a deficit of it, where one is a victim of emotional overflow and chaos.

Alan Shore's theory of affect regulation proposes the connection with the right hemisphere to be able to discover the procedural relational models and, from there, to undertake an intervention that leads to the change of these internal working models (IWM). Interestingly, this change is not made from a cognitive level but from the connection and attunement with the other. This interconnection is what helps us to have new experiences of relationship at an implicit level, lived in the body in the present moment. On the other hand, Daniel Siegel synthesizes Shore's ideas and research on mindfulness and attachment by integrating them into the theory of personal neurobiology. Siegel applies the principles of interpersonal neurobiology to promote compassion, kindness, resilience and well-being in our personal lives.

If we compare the emerging interpersonal neurophysiological theories of regulation with Eastern mindfulness, we see that beyond cultural archetypes, both are looking for the same thing.

Mindfulness is often confused with the concept of meditation. In your opinion, what are the main differences? Javier Elcarte.

Translating, either from the Indo-Aryan languages or from classical Sanskrit, languages in which the texts of Buddha are collected, the terms used to refer to the state of conscious mind and mental pacification is something very complex for us, since Western languages do not have a linear parallelism to express these psycho-emotional concepts.

Something similar happens with the idea of mindfulness, there is no word in Spanish that corresponds completely with it. Thus, we use different terms such as meditation, mindfulness, etc.

Saving the difficulties with the terms, in the East there are different currents of mindfulness and in the West we have also developed different visions of what is sought with mindfulness. We are given to decaffeinate the concepts and create self-help phrases where we are able to trivialize ancient philosophies.

If you study the different Buddhist schools you will discover that their philosophy goes beyond creating a pleasant emotional state. In fact, they do not seek results, they focus on the present moment and on the observation of the internal and external experience that occurs in each moment to focus on multiple and varied aspects such as: mental clarity, compassion, love, etc.

What are the keys that make Mindfulness a therapeutic tool, going beyond a simple pleasant or relaxing experience? Cristina Cortés.

The first achievement of mindfulness by bringing attention again and again on the object of mindfulness, usually breathing, is mental calm, thus beginning to produce a greater space between thought and thought.

This allows one to discover, little by little, in oneself, in the present, the emotional states that are there unattended and that mobilize the defenses and reactions of everyday life. If one remains in the breath while observing these states, one can experience how the wave of emotion arrives and ends up extinguishing itself. Usually, when discomfort arrives, we escape from it, avoid it and repress it in a thousand different ways.

In a mindful state we change the response, we stay there, with nowhere to go, observing and accepting the pain. This being there, in a state of acceptance and compassion towards oneself regulates the emotional surge and generates new connections in the right orbitofrontal cortex, somehow dampening the emotional movement of more subcortical origin.

In the sessions in which Mindfulness is used, are patients also taught to use these techniques on their own?

Practicing mindfulness in a group, at least in the beginning, is very helpful. It makes it easier to stay in that "coming back and coming back to the breath and the present again and again". A shared state of attention is created, where the mirror neurons of the group work in the same direction.

Of course, individual practice between sessions is equally important in order to fix and strengthen this new learning.

What kind of patients can especially benefit from the use of Mindfulness?

In principle, absolutely everyone. In fact, in severe disorders such as bipolar, dissociation, etc., the use of mindfulness resources is also recommended.

As a tool for self-knowledge and emotional regulation, mindfulness is at the base of any therapeutic intervention and is beneficial for any type of patient.

At Vitaliza you organize courses to learn the theory and practice of Therapeutic Mindfulness. What subjects do you need to master to be able to use this practice with fluency?

A psychologist friend and wise man told us many years ago; "there will come a time when the neurophysiological correlates of mindfulness will be known, but that does not mean being able to reach a state of mindfulness".

That is, talking about subjects and theories in mindfulness does not ensure the mindful state or mindfulness. Daily and constant practice, with perseverance and without expectations is the way. In Vitaliza's approach, the idea is to integrate mindfulness in our therapeutic intervention. There are many trainings aimed at health professionals where they provide the latest knowledge on research in the field of mindfulness and emotional regulation and attachment. There is a multitude of literature on the subject.

But even for therapists, there is only one way to learn mindfulness and that is to practice. The best knowledge of mindfulness is one's own experience.