Fantastic article in today’s Wall Street Journal about the new “wave” of cognitive-behavioral therapy known as mindfulness. Its understanding of the counterproductive power of (internal) judgment is pretty darn eerie. Not only that, but as a school of thought, it appears to recognize the futility of information as a change agent, as well as the essentially passive nature of true self-improvement. In fact, if you can get beyond the slight New Age can-do bent in the language, mindfulness might well represent the next step in a Law/Gospel approach to psychotherapy. But don’t take my word for it (ht WDR):
Even people who appear supremely fit, highly successful and hyper-organized are sometimes riddled with debilitating doubts, fears and self-criticisms. “Most people are struggling with difficult thoughts and feelings. But the show we put on for others says ‘I’ve got it handled,'” says Steven C. Hayes, a professor of psychology at University of Nevada-Reno. In reality, however, “there’s a big difference between what’s on the outside and what’s on the inside.”
Cognitive-behavioral therapy aims to help patients conquer their self doubts in two ways: Either by changing the behaviors that go along with it (I’m so fat—I need to get to the gym!) or by challenging the underlying thoughts, which are often distorted. (I’m 45-years old and I’m comparing myself to anorexic models. Get serious!)
Now, a third-wave of cognitive-behavioral therapy is catching on in psychology and self-help circles. It holds that simply observing your critical thoughts without judging them is a more effective way to tame them than pressuring yourself to change or denying their validity.
This new psychology movement centers on mindfulness—the increasing popular emphasis on paying attention to the present moment. One of its key tenets is that urging people to stop thinking negative thoughts only tightens their grip—”like struggling with quicksand,” Dr. Hayes says. But simply observing them like passing clouds can diffuse their emotional power, proponents say, and open up more options.
[Katherine Muller, associate director of the Center for Integrative Psychotherapy] also finds that practicing mindfulness is more effective at easing her own fear of flying than being reminded about the safety statistics. On one flight, she says, “all my cognitive skills were going right out the window.” Then another psychologist suggested focusing on the tray table rather than fighting her fears. “It helped me center my head and get a grip,” she says. “It gave me a chance to watch the movie and talk to the person next to me, rather than focus on how the plane might go down in a fiery ball.”
“It’s the nonjudgmental part that trips most people up,” says Dr. Linehan. “Most of us think that if we are judgmental enough, things will change. But judgment makes it harder to change.” She adds: “What happens in mindfulness over the long haul is that you finally accept that you’ve seen this soap opera before and you can turn off the TV.”
16 comments
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 4, 2011
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Jesus, Jesus, lighten up…get with the "mindfulness therapy" man!
DZ says:
Jan 4, 2011
Ha! That's certainly one way to go with it…
Ken says:
Jan 4, 2011
The concept comes from Buddhism, doesn't it? I like it.
Robin Anderson says:
Jan 4, 2011
Paying attention to the present moment is to me a sign of being anchored in Christ, because it means trusting God in every moment; and really seeing what has been given, rather than constantly thinking about how to fix, deny, get it over with, or even use what each moment offers. Mindfulness takes me out of the driver's seat and lets me enjoy the ride.
Observing the negative thoughts, i.e. the uncleanness within, means accepting honestly that the uncleanness is there. Accepting this without judgment requires accepting my own inability to fix it, and trusting that Christ is in charge and He is merciful.
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 4, 2011
I guess that I struggle to see how we are to interpret the very harsh words of Jesus that are all over the gospels, while holding to the idea that any form of external or internal "judgment" is a "bad" thing that causes us to recoil and regress. I know that for Jesus, the Cross, not "judgment" is often said to be the last word, but of course the resurrected Jesus is still hard at it with words of warning and judgment to the churches in Revelation. "Mindfulness" or not, the external judgment of God is all over Paul's letters to the churches as well.
"Mindfulness" as it is actually presented in this article seems to clearly imply and presume that we can deal with things on our own though self-awareness and self-acceptance that neutralizes the harmful effects of internal and external judgment. Unless we just totally redefine the concept in Christian terms, "mindfulness" is indeed much closer to Buddhism than it is to Christianity.
Ken says:
Jan 4, 2011
Michael, you may be right, but I see this instead as a technique to step back from thoughts and feelings that overwhelm us – that defeat us – the better to let God put them in perspective for us. When I'm stuck in Romans 7, sometimes all I can do is say, "look, there I go again," and wait for grace, wait for the Spirit to help me be what in God's eyes I actually am.
DBab says:
Jan 4, 2011
Getting old is not for sissies. Not too many alternatives. At 73 I've found acceptance to be fundamental to dealing with the raging conflicts within my thinking about life. It's important for me to pray, "Lord…whatever. Im ok with that." This includes all the things about me that I cannot change. Which is just about everything. If grace does not succeed, Im stuck with me. And that would be a wreck. With grace I can accept me without the voice of judgment.
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 5, 2011
Accepting myself as I am without judgment may be a wonderful spiritual state, but I don't see much in Scripture or the BCP about it. The need for grace, the confession of sin, the prayer for amendment of life, all presuppose profound dissatisfaction with the me that is, a recognition of God's just judgment against the me that is, and a reliance on His eternal mercy and power to bring the dead to life. "The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife closed in the sod. But let us pray for but one thing — the marvelous peace of God."
DBab says:
Jan 5, 2011
Accepting myself as I am is grounded in two things. Accepting that the old adam in me is alive and hard to kill. Accepting that trusting the trustworthy One means there is "no condemnation".
All of Romans 8 is the ground of my peace.
I love the BCP and do confess that I spend more time here, "and there is no health in us" than here "amendment of life".
I do affirm that when you have been overwhelmed with God's love through Jesus Christ you will never be the same.
But I do not put it on anybody to measure that.
And I do love that hymn.
I also wish that I could create and english sentence with the skill of MC
Bonnie says:
Jan 6, 2011
I love what Robin said. Spot on!
Mike, I think Jesus' words were directed at people who were NOT judging themselves (i.e., the scribes and Pharisees were aware of their hypocrisy, let alone aware enough to judge themselves for it!). For those who WERE judging themselves (the prostitutes, the tax collectors, and the other sinners), Jesus offered much more consoling words – "Today you will be with me in paradise."
Mindfulness and acceptance are paradigm-shifting for those who are feeling immensely judged by themselves and others. I agree with Ken in that it is a state of trusting in God's grace. It's NOT countering the "I'm not good enough" thought with "I'm good enough" thought. It's saying "I _recognize_ that I have this thought, that I'm not good enough." but not actually striving to change that thought at all. It's trusting that recognition and awareness alone creates space for change to occur.
JDK says:
Jan 6, 2011
Love all the comments!
As far as this therapy goes, it may be helpful for overcoming the fear of things, like flying or clowns, but for genuine feelings of guilt/shame/judgment, the question remains as to what people are to do when the "negative thoughts of themselves" are actually corresponding to reality.
According to the old way of reading the Gospels, not to mention the Apostle Paul, people are suffering from much more than the feeling of having not lived up to either real or false expectations. Trusting in God's grace can surely help you deal with negative feelings, but it can also give you the courage to face reality, to "call a spade a spade." For these people in the article, maybe the first "spade" would be something along the lines of "I may not have as much reason to trust myself as I think," i.e., the self-doubt is based (in part, at least) on who the person actually knows they are, not a mixture of external psychological triggers.
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 6, 2011
Bonnie– Certainly the Jesus of the gospels offers forgiveness and comfort to those who already have a keen sense of their own sin and the justice of God's wrath against it. The thief on the cross, whom Jesus promised Paradise, says to the other, "We are justly condemned." The response of Jesus is never, "Don't be so hard on yourself" or "Accept yourself" or "Do some 'Centering Prayer' meditation." The response is always radically from the outside: "Your sins are forgiven."
I don't see anything in "mindfulness technique" that contemplates this radical word of forgiveness from God to the guilty sinner whom God has brought to a place of repentance. Now we can totally redefine "mindfulness" in Christian terms as "trusting in God's grace", but in that case the terms are so altered from what the non-Christian means by "mindfulness technique" and "acceptance" as to be unrecognizable. In many ways, and this is the great irony, the wrath of God and the judgment of God, seen in the light of the forgiveness of God, may be the only thing capable of freeing anyone from the personal hell of neurotic guilt. Techniques, whatever they are, make for poor Saviors.
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 6, 2011
Don't mean to beat a dead horse, but of course I can't help myself 😉 This quote which Todd gave us some time back from Rudolf Bultmann states what I am trying to get at with respect to the irony of God's judgment in the context of His love as freedom from neurotic self-judgment:
"Being aware of the emptiness of his inner life, he clings to the picture that others form of him… All human longing for recognition is ultimately aimed at providing an answer to that decisive question: am I, generally speaking, a creature of worth or am I worthless? If a man no longer recognizes God as the controlling force in his life, then he has only the judgment of his fellow-men in view."
"Men spoil their relationship to God because they are not prepared to confess what they truly are in the sight of God: worthless creatures who have nothing which they did not receive from Him, creatures who lives are without any content or meaning apart from His grace, and who must flee again and again to His grace in order to have any value, creatures who can receive from Him alone that meaningfulness which free them from the tense struggle to assert their value."
."It is just the confession of sin which frees man from the fetters of self – from himself as he is in his urge to assert his authority and in his pathetic self-deception; and it brings him back to his true self- as he receives himself from God's hand: as the justified man, who in his spiritual freedom does not need to lower his eyes before any man since he has lowered them before God"
Splinter Faction says:
Jan 10, 2011
Michael, I'd love to know the source of the quotation from RB. Thanks.
Michael Cooper says:
Jan 11, 2011
My source is Todd 😉 Maybe Todd can help us there???
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