Mindfulness, socialarbetaren och relationen till klienten : En kunskapsöversikt

Sammanfattning: The interest of mindfulness has grown steadily during the last two decades. Mindfulness presence in the area of social work is mostly as an intervention offered to clients. However, the purpose of this study is to examine what implications the social worker’s mindfulness may have for the relationship with the clients. There is a lack of scientific studies focusing on mindfulness and the relationship between the client and the social worker. To fill this void we turned to psychology and psychotherapy research. The method used was a narrative review. The results were analyzed using a theoretical framework consisting of a theory viewing social work as reflexive-therapeutic and theories about the working alliance. The research about mindfulness effects on the relationships is still very new and contains a wide variety of definitions, operationalizations and study designs. The results show that mindfulness may enhance the social worker’s ability to create and establish a strong and constructive relationship with the clients. For example it seems like mindfulness cultivates the social worker’s ability to be less judging as well as more accepting, present, attentive and empathetic.