ORIGINAL PAPER Of the Soul and Suffering: Mindfulness-Based Interventions and Bereavement Joanne Cacciatore • Kara Thieleman • James Osborn • Kelly Orlowski Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract There has been increased interest in, and evi- dence for, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) as integrative approaches for a wide variety of psychosocial issues. However, there is very little research on the use of MBIs in bereavement care and only one proposed model existing in the literature. This article presents an overview of the mindfulness-based literature and uses a case study of a bereaved parent to illustrate a mindfulness-based model of bereavement care that is consistent with social work values. Such a model may provide a future direction for care of the bereaved as well as interesting opportunities for further development and research. Keywords Mindfulness Á Grief Á Bereavement Á Trauma Á Child death Á Bereaved parents Over the past two decades, there has been an accelerating level of academic and clinical interest in mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) across a range of disciplines including social work, psychology, medicine, and neuroscience. This interest is reflected in the broader culture, with mindfulness programs making inroads into corporate training regimens (Chaskalson 2011), classrooms in educational systems (Gold et al. 2010; Napoli et al. 2005), soldier preparedness and resilience training (Stanley et al. 2011), and prison rehabilitation programs (Bowen et al. 2006; Himelstein et al. 2012; Samuelson et al. 2007), among other areas. Mindfulness practices can be found in various spiritual traditions around the world, but are most strongly associ- ated with Buddhism, where they are practiced in order to help attain freedom from suffering. Mindfulness practices in the West derive largely from vipassana (meaning ‘‘insight’’) meditation practices which emphasize simply paying attention to experiences in the present moment. The focus is on taking a step back from and simply noticing bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. Doing so creates a sense of spaciousness that allows a person to respond mindfully rather than react habitually to difficult experi- ences (Baer and Krietemeyer 2006). Unlike some forms of meditation, where the stated goal is to achieve bliss or to enhance devotion to a deity or to a belief structure, the explicit purpose of vipassana meditation is be attuned to one’s experience of reality. Despite its strong association with Buddhism, mindful- ness practices are not limited to this tradition, and may instead be viewed as ‘‘an inherent human capacity’’ (Kabat-Zinn 2003, p. 146) that exists independent of spiritual traditions. The concept and practice of mindful- ness are adaptable from their ancient roots in vipassana meditation. Within the behavioral sciences, a variety of treatment approaches have incorporated such mindfulness practices, attempting to retain the essential elements while breaking them down into skill sets that can be used in a Western context. The explicit use of formal mindfulness practices to develop attention and awareness in health settings first became popular during the 1990s. An early line of research began with the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the J. Cacciatore (&) School of Social Work, Arizona State University, 411N. Central Avenue, 822K, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA e-mail: Joanne.cacciatore@asu.edu; jcaccia@me.com K. Thieleman Á J. Osborn Á K. Orlowski Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA 123 Clin Soc Work J DOI 10.1007/s10615-013-0465-y