A Conceptual Model and Clinical Framework for Integrating Mindfulness into Family Therapy with Adolescents

• Date: 01 June 2018
• Published date: 01 June 2018
• Author: Jeanne Dalen,Robert D. Annett,Charles W. Turner,David G. Scherer,Janet L. Brody
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12298

A Conceptual Model and Clinical Framework for

Integrating Mindfulness into Family Therapy with

Adolescents

JANET L. BRODY*

DAVID G. SCHERER

†

CHARLES W. TURNER

‡

ROBERT D. ANNETT

§

JEANNE DALEN*

,¶

Individual and group-based psychotherapeutic interventions increasingly incorporate

mindfulness-based principles and practices. These practices include a versatile set of skills

such as labeling and attending to present-moment experiences, acting with awareness, and

avoiding automatic reactivity. A primary motivation for integrating mindfulness into these

therapies is compelling evidence that it enhances emotion regulation. Research also demon-

strates that family relationships have a profound influence on emotion regulation capaci-

ties, which are central to family functioning and prosocial behavior more broadly. Despite

this evidence, no framework exists to describe how mindfulness might integrate into family

therapy. This paper describes the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions, highlighting

how and why informal mindfulness practices might enhance emotion regulation when inte-

grated with family therapy. We provide a clinical framework for integrating mindfulness

into family therapy, particularly as it applies to families with adolescents. A brief case

example details sample methods showing how incorporating mindfulness practices into

family therapy may enhance treatment outcomes. A range of assessment modalities from

biological to behavioral demonstrates the breadth with which the benefits of a family-based

mindfulness intervention might be evaluated.

Keywords: Mindfulness; Family therapy; Emotion regulation; Adolescents

Fam Proc 57:510–524, 2018

*Center for Family and Adolescent Research, Oregon Research Institute, Albuquerque,NM.

†

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

‡

Oregon Research Institute, Highland Park, NJ.

§

Department of Pediatrics, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS.

¶

Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Janet L. Brody Ph.D., Research Scientist,

Center for Family and Adolescent Research, Oregon Research Institute, 707 Broadway N.E. Suite 402,

Albuquerque, NM 87102; E-mail: jbrody@ori.org

Acknowledgements: The authors are indebted to M. Kate Reynolds, Caitlin Hein, and Hannah Siegel for

their assistance with this manuscript. Dr. Brody and Dr. Turner acknowledge support, in part, from NIDA

grants 032723, 032474, and 036622. Dr. Brody and Dr. Dalen will receive compensation from community

agencies for training therapists to integrate family-based mindfulness methods into a community imple-

mentation of Functional Family Therapy.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-

NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is prop-

erly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

510

Family Process, Vol. 57, No. 2, 2018 ©2017 The Authors.

Family Process published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12298