Mindfulness Therapy
in New York, NY
Why Are People Increasingly Turning To Mindfulness Therapy?
Oftentimes, when it comes to healing our psychological or emotional wounds, therapy involves changing the way we think, how we feel about ourselves, or how we process our experiences. Sometimes, however, instead of striving for change, we can benefit more from sitting with our pain, practicing radical acceptance, and observing our internal experiences without judgment.
This is where Mindfulness Therapy truly shines because it’s all about taking a step back—slowing our thoughts, noticing our surroundings, and tuning into ourselves. Rather than rationalizing and problem-solving, mindfulness is about cultivating greater self-awareness, embracing the present moment, and being receptive to things that we might otherwise try to eliminate or minimize.
Once we acknowledge the integral link between the mind and body—once we center and calm ourselves—we’re able to explore our inner thoughts, even the challenging ones. That sense of balance and control facilitates the work of other therapy approaches while improving how you relate to yourself, interact with other people, and move through this world.
Who And What Can Mindfulness-Based Therapy Help Support?
Although Mindfulness is a powerful tool on its own, it also works well within the framework of other therapeutic strategies to address a host of presenting concerns. Mindfulness is often an integral part of therapy for anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and trauma/PTSD—especially when it comes to healing the wounded inner child in all of us.
It’s helpful for addressing low self-esteem, OCD, substance use, and eating disorders. It’s even proven to help alleviate physical health issues like insomnia, chronic pain, stress-related inflammation, and high blood pressure. Though frequently used to treat or supplement the treatment of mental health-related issues, Mindfulness Therapy is a flexible tool that can be utilized in almost any situation with clients of any age.
Taking A Look At How Mindfulness Therapy Sessions Work
After matching you with one of our mindfulness therapists at Live Well Practice NY, we’ll spend some time getting to know you, looking at your concerns and what you hope to get out of therapy. To develop a more comprehensive history, we might explore aspects of your background, what your current living situation looks like, and how you have been coping with things up to this point.
Then, we’ll start incorporating mindfulness-based techniques, such as meditation practice, breathing exercises, guided imagery, and body scans into counseling sessions. Once you feel grounded and relaxed, we’ll help you name and observe any thoughts, feelings, beliefs, or physical sensations that surface without judging or reacting.
This impartial receptiveness allows you to explore and work with those internal experiences in a way that feels safe and contained. Because it enables you feel calmer, more grounded, and in greater control of your emotions, Mindfulness can help resolve complex issues with deep, and oftentimes, painful roots.
The Benefits Of Mindfulness Don’t Stop At Mental Health Care
Most traditional counseling strategies outside of Mindfulness-based approaches are designed to help clients manage psychological or developmental concerns, which is extremely important. However, sometimes, we can encounter obstacles and challenges in life that fall outside of those contexts.
For instance, perhaps you feel lost and frustrated because your life hasn’t unfolded the way you anticipated or hoped. Or maybe financial issues, a difficult life transition, or marital/relationship stress is causing headaches.
On the other hand, it could be that you have it all—financial stability, a strong family life, a nice home—yet you still feel empty or unsatisfied. Or maybe you simply feel a calling to become a stronger leader, a kinder parent, a more supportive partner, or just a more compassionate, grounded individual.
Mindfulness works seamlessly with these challenges and goals because, rather than fixing “what’s wrong,” we’re trying to learn from our experiences, even if they’re distressing at times. That, in turn, allows us to navigate stressors, symptoms, and any adversity with greater ease.
How Effective Is Mindfulness Therapy?
The undeniable effectiveness of Mindfulness is reflected in the fact that it’s a core principle in countless other therapeutic modalities. For instance, you’ll encounter Mindfulness in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) as a tool for identifying and challenging negative thought patterns.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) uses Mindfulness to access, explore, and talk to the various, often wounded, parts of the self without creating overwhelm. In EMDR, it helps you stay anchored to the present and focused on the task at hand—while in Gestalt therapy, it involves accepting difficult truths. Each modality incorporates mindfulness in unique ways to build self-awareness and foster change.
What’s The Secret Power Of Mindfulness-Based Counseling?
Mindfulness, as a practice, has a systemic effect on a person that fosters healing and growth on a mental, physical, and even spiritual level in some cases. It promotes objectivity and enables you to discern whether the things you’re perceiving are factual or open to interpretation. It offers you greater control over your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, which ultimately leads to a positive shift in your overall perspective.
Because Mindfulness actually facilitates the growth and formation of new neuropathways in the brain, you can train your mind to experience, process, and respond to stressors differently. With that increased psychological flexibility, you’ll likely find yourself becoming a better parent, partner, co-worker, and friend.
A Little About Our Background With Mindfulness Therapy
We believe that Mindfulness is a natural part of our everyday interactions as human beings. We also recognize that Mindfulness is an essential component of effective therapy and counseling—and that if we don’t provide tools to help clients access that internal resource, we’re doing them a disservice.
At Live Well Practice, all of our therapists and counselors use Mindfulness, with most of our clinicians having studied and/or practiced it in graduate school, through internships, and at clinical jobs. In order to make well-informed decisions that align with who we are—in order to heal the wounds at the core of our thoughts and actions—it is vital to gain a deep understanding of ourselves.
That’s the power of Mindfulness, and that’s why it’s a central part of our approach to healing. To set up your first appointment—or for a free, 20-minute consultation to learn more—we invite you to contact our virtual assistant at (201) 855-9402.
Live Well Practice NYC offers virtual Mindfulness Therapy for adults throughout the state of New York.
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