Mindfulnessmeditatie in de geestelijke gezondheidszorg: te veel, te vaak en te vroeg

Mindfulness meditation in mental health care: Too much, too often, and too soon

Many psychologists, both clinical researchers and clinical practitioners, are beguiled by mindfulness meditation treatments such as Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. These treatments are often deemed ‘promising’, but such labelling is questionable. Indeed, the widespread belief that mindfulness meditation has been proven to be beneficial is completely unwarranted considering the status quo of mindfulness research. There is no empirical basis for the notion that meditation is the ideal technique to promote mindfulness, and it is unclear whether promoting mindfulness is useful at all as there are no data unequivocally distinguishing the effect of mindfulness based therapies from placebo. Onemay conclude that the integration, dissemination, and application of mindfulness meditation treatment protocols in mental health care is too soon.