Mindfulness-Based Approaches and their potential for educational psychology practice

Research has been carried out on the application of “mindfulness” to a number of different populations in varying contexts, some of which traverse the field of educational psychology. This discussion paper explores what is understood as mindfulness and outlines the breadth of its application. As well as more extensive research into the use of mindfulness with adults in clinical settings, there has been initial research carried out in the use of Mindfulness-Based Approaches (MBA) with children and parents. MBA have also been used within therapy and coaching which has some similarity to educational psychology consultation with teachers and parents. This paper proposes that the future role of MBA within educational psychology might be one of cautious use by practitioners and the development of a greater body of evidence relating to efficacy in this field.