Mindfulness and Empathy Among Counseling and Psychotherapy Professionals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
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REVIEW
Mindfulness and Empathy Among Counseling and Psychotherapy Professionals: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis David Cooper 1
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Keong Yap 1
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Maureen O’Brien & India Scott 1
# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Objectives Past research shows that mindfulness-based training improves empathy in healthcare professionals and the general population. However, the empirical evidence for applying this assumption to counselors and psychotherapists is not well established. This review sought to examine the relationship between mindfulness and empathy, and the effects of mindfulness-based training on empathy among counselors and psychotherapists. Methods Published studies and dissertations indexed by PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science Core Collection, and Medline were systematically reviewed. We performed random-effects meta-analyses of both cross-sectional evidence and pre-post results of mindfulness-based training. Results A total of 22 studies met criteria. Greater self-reported levels of mindfulness were associated with less empathic personal distress, r = − .39, 95% CI [−.57, −.18], and greater perspective taking, r = .27, 95% CI [.09, .44]. An analysis of pre-post data indicated that mindfulness-based training did not have a significant effect on empathy. Conclusions There is a positive association between mindfulness and some aspects of empathy. However, mindfulness-based training did not significantly alter levels of empathy. Other methods of increasing empathy in counselors and psychotherapists should be explored. Furthermore, caution should be exercised when generalizing results from studies involving other healthcare professionals and the general population to counselors and psychotherapists. Keywords Mindfulness . Empathy . Training . Systematic review . Meta-analysis
Empathy is crucial to counseling and psychotherapy because it is a core value in most theoretical approaches and has been identified as a key factor in treatment outcomes (Elliott et al. 2011). However, counseling and psychotherapy training programs struggle to develop the deeper attitudinal elements of empathic practice that extend beyond skills and behaviors in trainees (Gockel 2010; Lambert and Witold 2008). Mindfulness might be able to bridge this gap, in that a more mindful therapist would be more attentive and accepting of aversive emotions and open to entering a client’s world Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-020-01425-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * David Cooper [email protected] 1
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Strathfield, NSW, Australia
(Walsh 2008). This is a reasonable assumption given the benefits of mindfulness meditation for healthcare professionals such as lower levels of psychological distress and burnout (Lomas et al. 2019). Furthermore, a recent meta-analysis revealed that meditation had positive effects on emp
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