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A brief mindfulness exercise at the beginning of a psychotherapy session can have a positive effect on psychological symptoms in adolescent patients. This is the finding of a study conducted at Heidelberg University's Centre for Psychological Psychotherapy (ZPP) under the direction of Dr. Johannes Mander and Dr. Julia Kalmar.

Adolescents who completed a mindfulness exercise at the beginning of each session experienced a greater reduction in symptoms than those in the comparison group, who received psychotherapy without a standardized session introduction.

The researchers also found that patients perceived a greater improvement in the therapeutic alliance. However, there was no significant difference between mindfulness and relaxation interventions in terms of symptom reduction.

"Our study shows that innovative approaches such as brief mindfulness interventions can easily be integrated into outpatient psychotherapy and have a positive impact, particularly for the highly vulnerable group of adolescent patients," emphasizes Kalmar.

The psychologist heads the training program in child and adolescent psychotherapy at the ZPP and conducts research at Heidelberg University's Institute of Psychology. Mindfulness involves consciously attending to the present moment while trying to observe thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without judgment.

The study involved 90 adolescents ages 11 to 19 who were receiving outpatient treatment for depression, anxiety disorders or ADHD at the ZPP and were randomly assigned to one of three groups. In the mindfulness group, each of the 24 therapy sessions began with a five- to 10-minute mindfulness intervention.

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