Published date:
Brigeen Mullan
Mindfulness-based interventions teach participants how to regulate
attention and increase awareness of the present moment, with an open and
accepting attitude. Participants learn how to move their attention from cognitive
processes to an awareness of bodily sensations.
This can lead to a reduction in rumination and worry and reduced reactivity to provocation (Farb and Segal, 2024).
The effectiveness of mindfulness for people on probation has not been robustly
studied but there is some promising evidence of its potential benefits. This article
centres on a pilot mindfulness-based programme offered to a small group of
probation service-users in PBNI.
The facilitator reflects on her perception of the programme’s effectiveness and participants’ evaluations of the programme. The evaluation of this pilot provides support for the possibilities that mindfulness can offer as a strength-based intervention to improve emotional regulation in offending populations