A Literature Review Exploring the Potential of Mindfulness as a Tool to Develop Skills and Qualities for Effective Consultation

Consultation undertaken by health, education and business professionals is complex, demanding activity that requires a range of social and cognitive skills. There is a large body of published literature regarding the application of mindfulness to address a broad range of difficulties and the development qualities. In the literature mindfulness has also been applied to different contexts including coaching and therapy, however mindfulness has yet to be applied to consultation. The purpose of this paper is to address the question ‘What published literature is there to support the application of mindfulness to consultation?’ and in response to this question provide the reader with the breadth of literature surrounding this subject. This aim is achieved through a search of literature identifying specific skills that have been found to be both, important for effective consultation and related fields, and been associated with mindfulness. This paper concludes that through the development of mindfulness by professional consultants, cognitive, attitudinal and social qualities may be cultivated. Suggestions for a model for the mindfulness-based consultation are made. Further research is required to develop the model and training, where its impact on the efficacy of consultations could be evaluated.