Mindfulness-Based Integrative Therapy

I don't know if there is formally any such approach as Mindfulness-Based Integrative Therapy, so maybe I invented the term. Whether or not someone else has used the term before, it would describe my way of working as a counsellor and psychotherapist.

Some counsellors and psychotherapists might work from a specific theoretical model: some are Psychoanslysts, while others are CBT therapists, Gestaltists, Jungian analysts, Existential therapists etc. There are also many who would consider themselves as Integrative, as they combine or seek to combine two or more approaches or elements of two or more approaches. In practice it is not possible to integrate all the approaches as they are too different. However, I believe that one can always find common points, and ideas in one approach can be found in another approach even if under another name. One overarching common factor in all or almost all approaches to counselling and psychotherapy is the central role of the therapeutic relationship itself.

Coming back to my way of working, I am integrative, particularly drawing from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Gestalt therapy and Psychosynthesis and ideas from Carl Rogers (about the therapeutic relationship), Jung and Existential therapy. I also bear in mind the work of a Japanese therapist Shoma Morita from the early 20th century who developed an approach influenced by Zen Buddhism and close to Nature. Mindfulness is central to my approach as a counsellor and psychotherapist, whether or not that involves giving my clients experiential mindfulness exercises. Exactly how I work depends on the client - the Existential therapist Irvin Yalom has said that one should invent a new therapy for each client. I also value the idea of beginner's mind, as expounded by Japanese Zen master Shunryu Suzuki in the classic book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind.