Meditation in Behavioral Medicine

• Welcome to a Dialogue on Meditation in Psychotherapy with James Spira by John Grohol, 3/9/98
  • Meditation in Psychotherapy: Major Issues to Consider by Jim Spira, Ph.D., M.P.H., 4/13/98
    
    

I agree with Dr. Spira that when comunicating about meditation that it's helpful to specify what type of meditation. For some types of meditation this will add more clarity, but not necessarily because with the case of Chi Kung or Qi Gong there are actually thousands of forms. I think Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues have looked at changes in mood, health status, and pain ratings in researching the effects of Mindfulness Meditation. Some of this reasearch was published more than ten years ago. One last comment is that you point out a large difference in competence potentially between who studies Tai Chi over a number of years versus someone who learns a few things at a conference. My opinion is that many psychotherapists who teach meditation do so after having learned a few things about it at a workshop or conference. For many it may be more a matter of professional training rather than personal training.

• Which raises an interesting point . . . by Jim Spira, 1/2/99