Parent-Child Relationships and Mindfulness

Psychological approaches such as mindfulness-based stress reduction or mindfulness-based cognitive therapy could be effective for relieving a wide range of psychosocial stresses or frictions between parents and children. Several interventional approaches based on mindfulness have been shown to be useful for improving parent-child relationships not only among healthy families but also among those with difficult psychopathologies. Particularly in the relationships of parents with their children with developmental disorders such as autism or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders, these approaches may play an important role in that the motivations of both parents and children could be enhanced because they can actually feel that their mental condition improves through meaningful parent-child interactions that they experience in their daily lives. These approaches are also expected to improve communications between mothers and children through the development of a finely honed sensitivity. One practical example is shown for the mental growth of children by the mindfulness-based dietary education and the secondary effects of this education on the parents. We can also apply these effective methods to the improvement of general interpersonal relationships.