Art and Science of Mindfulness : Integrating Mindfulness Into the Helping Professions

Now in its third edition, The Art and Science of Mindfulness offers a deeper understanding of the concept of mindfulness and explores its potential as a core clinical skill and a way to increase the well-being of both clients and clinicians. Mindfulness helps us to see clearly so that we can make choices grounded in reality and respond to life with wisdom. However, seeing clearly is difficult because the lens through which we view the world is blurred by our parents, teachers, relationships, and society, and they influence our perceptions on conscious and subconscious levels. Practicing mindfulness helps us remove the filters, biases, and preconceived ideas that shape our perceptions and cloud our consciousness. At the deepest level, mindfulness is about freedom: freedom from reflexive patterns, freedom from reactivity, and, ultimately, freedom from suffering.