Abstract
Mindfulness has become popular within psychotherapeutic community and among clients seeking relief from their suffering. However, little is known about how mindfulness has been integrated into psychotherapy, especially in Brazil. This study aimed to identify and characterize knowledge, recommendation, clinical and personal use of mindfulness by Brazilian clinical psychologists. Data were obtained using a national quantitative survey, carried out with 417 licensed clinical psychologists. The instrument was a structured online questionnaire, developed and tested for this study. Results were analyzed descriptively by frequencies; Fisher’s exact test and significance level p < 0.05 were used for association between categories of response. Results indicated that most psychologists (65.23%) reported no or little knowledge of mindfulness; almost half of them (47.96%) have already recommended it to their clients; about a third (31.18%) has already applied it in clinical setting, mainly using isolated techniques on individual clients; and about a quarter of the professionals (25.37%) practices mindfulness at a personal level. These data suggested that the use of mindfulness in clinical setting has moved away from the evidence-based format - mindfulness-based programs -, whose effectiveness has been verified. We expect that results can contribute to the reflection about training and regulation of emerging practices in psychology (including mindfulness) on the part of regulatory, academic, and scientific fields, qualifying the psychologist to make better decisions about integrating such practices in psychotherapy.
Keywords:
Complementary Therapies; Attitude; Professional Practice; Clinical Psychology; Mindfulness
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