Holding Patients with Stable, Focused Attention & Acceptance

     "Another important factor in therapy is the therapist’s level of attention, a topic that emerged early on in psychoanalytic thought. In 1912, Freud proposed evenly hovering attention as a critical therapeutic skill. Reik (1948) elaborated on this idea, emphasizing the importance of not fixating attention on any particular subject or object and learning to suspend critical judgment (1948). Modern theorists have continued to offer such recommendations, among them: the therapist should approach each session free of expectation or desire, and the therapist should be aware of their own associations to what emerges from the patient in-session. Despite this ongoing interest in the subject, the ability to maintain focused attention is a known challenge for many therapists.

     Mindfulness meditation offers a highly sophisticated method for both directing attention and engaging in self-exploration to facilitate awareness."

       Ryan A, Safran JD, Doran JM, Muran JC. Therapist mindfulness, alliance and treatment outcome. Psychother Res 2012; 22(3): 289-97. 

 

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