Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
Dene Donalds
RNLD ,MBA
Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
• Thinking
• Listening
• Speaking
• Acting or behaving
Person Centred Thinking
“For people being supported by services, it is not person centred
planning that matters as much as the pervasive presence of person
centred thinking.
If people who use services are to have positive control over their lives,
if they are to have self directed lives within their own communities
then those who are around the person, especially those who do the
day to day work need to have person centred thinking skills.
Only a small percentage of people need to know how to write good
person centred plans, but everyone involved needs to have good skills
in person centred thinking, in the value based skills that underlie the
planning.”
Helen Sanderson
Person Centred Thinking
There are a number of reasons for this;
• It is more likely that plans will be used and acted on;
that the lives of people who use services will improve
• There will have a number of ways to get plans started
• Updating the plans will occur “naturally”, needing less
effort and time
Person Centred Thinking
Every type of person centred planning is
interdependent on a person centred way of thinking.
Made up from a set of value-based skills and tools that
result in perceiving the person differently and give us a
way of acting on what is learned in a holistic way.
Training in person centred planning is training in a way
of thinking as much as it is in a way of developing a
plan.
Person Centred Thinking
• Do we agree with the statements in relation to
person centred thinking?
What person centred thinking tools do you use?
Person Centred tools
• Person-centred thinking tools in common use
include one-page profiles, 'working/not
working', 'important to/important for', 'good
day/bad day', communication charts,
'doughnut' of staff roles and responsibilities,
relationship circles, learning logs and personcentred reviews:
Person Centred Tools
Person centred tools are helpful but its also
about why the workforce and organisation is
using them and what workforce and
organisation is using them.
Type of workforce or organisation
•
Fearful
•
Reactive
•
Frozen -non responsive
•
Mindful
•
Understanding
•
Responsive
•
Compassionate
•
Feel the fear and do it anyway
What is Mindfulness?
“the awareness that emerges through
paying attention on purpose, in the present
moment, and non-judgmentally to the
unfolding of experience moment by
moment”
• (Kabat-Zinn, 2003).
What is Mindfulness?
• “Mindfulness is the practice of focussing attention in a nonjudgemental, non-reactive way on the present moment
and what is happening in an individual’s mind, body and
the world around them.
• Mindfulness forms the basis of mindfulness-based stress
reduction(MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive
therapy(MBCT) programmes and there is growing evidence
of the benefits of mindfulness for managing a range of
difficulties including stress, anxiety, depression, pain and
disordered eating.”
• Chapman and Mitchell 2012
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction
(MBSR)
• Developed in 1980s by Jon Kabat-Zinn
• An 8 week program (2.5 h per week + day of mindfulness+ daily
practice)
• Guided mindfulness practices focused mainly on sensory awareness
following the breath and body awareness
• Education about stress
• Gentle yoga and movement practices using awareness of breathing
• Developed initially for stress reduction of varied patient groups
from chronic pain to anxiety and heart problems-now used wider .
• Well documented beneficial effects on stress reduction and wellbeing (e.g., Hofmann, 2010)
• Have a direct effect on our perceptions and responses to situations
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
• Developed by Segal, Williams and Teasdale in the
1990s
• Targeting specific groups of patients with
recurrent major depression while in remission
to prevent relapse
• 85% MBSR + elements of Cognitive Behaviour
Therapy (CBT)
• MBCT halved the rate of depressive relapse in
patients with three or more past episodes
(Teasdale, Segal & Williams, 2000)
• NICE recommend with certain groups
Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
• Where there is genuine person centred
approaches there is mindfulness
• Where there is mindfulness there is person
centred approaches
Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
• Supports the organisation to respond to
situations rather than react.
• Supports the organisation to be open rather
than closed
Mindful Guidelines for a Person
Centred (Thinking) Approach
Openness
Open to exploring new and creative ways of doing things at a macro
and micro level.
See professional and academic qualifications and training as essential
to guiding practice that helps us look at a situation or person
holistically with awareness understanding and compassion:
They are not doctrines to stick rigidly to at all costs.
They are not doctrines which directly or indirectly exclude the
experiences of people with learning disabilities and their families
Openness- a word of caution
• For a mature workforce openness recognises the
importance of academic research, professional skills,
experience training including person centred
approaches, but at the same time works with
compassion and understanding
• Openness is not an opportunity to disregard agreed
guidance and organisational policy based on academic
research, professional skills and training
• Openness is not about inconsistency or just doing what
ever we feel like
Mindful Guidelines for a Person
Centred(Thinking) Approach
Non Attachment to Views
Avoid being narrow minded and bound to present professional and academic
views. Be open to others views insights and experiences in order to benefit
from collective understanding rather than just your own.
Understanding can be developed through mindful compassionate listening
and letting go of judgements , rather than purely through the accumulation of
intellectual knowledge.
The academic and experiential knowledge we presently process is not
changeless. Truth is found in day to day work and living. As well as valued
professional expertise.
Aim to observe thoughts, feelings, people and situations in every moment
with the volition to learn throughout the continuous person centred planning
process.
Group Exercise
• Produce Mindful Guidelines for a Person
Centred Approach to:
• Listening
• Speech
• Acting
Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
What next?
Person Centred Approaches and
Mindfulness
Dene Donalds
RNLD, MBA
dene@thelisteningpartner.cc