Program Characteristics as Factors Influencing the Implementation of Mindfulness Meditation in Substance Abuse Treatment Agencies

Abstract

This article discusses lessons learned from a study on mindfulness meditation (MM) within a substance abuse treatment agency. Parts of the study are cited as the source of lessons learned. Themes from the qualitative data include: scheduling, time factors, discomfort in the group setting, and group composition. Integral Theory (Wilber, 2006) is offered as a useful way to conceptualize spirituality-related interventions that incorporate the organizational context. The authors' experience calls for increased partnership with organizations, engaging the interest of providers in spirituality-related interventions that could be studied within the agency setting.

Keywords:

• organizational context
• mindfulness meditation
• spirituality-related interventions
• Integral Theory
• research partnerships