Mindfulness: A primrose path for therapists using manualized treatments?

During the past 2 decades, the popularity of mindfulness as a desirable patient characteristic has increased considerably. Described as the tendency to be attentive to and aware of what is occurring in the moment, mindfulness is incorporated into several established therapeutic techniques, with some impressive outcome data. To our knowledge, there have been no treatment studies investigating the effect of therapist mindfulness on therapy outcome. The current study examined the relation between therapist mindfulness and client treatment outcome in a university-affiliated clinic utilizing manualized, empirically supported treatments. Twenty-three doctoral-level trainees provided services to 144 adult clients. Results suggested that higher levels of therapist mindfulness predicted less reduction in client symptom severity at termination. Current findings suggest consideration of possible limitations regarding mind-fulness in therapists utilizing manualized therapies.