Is mindfulness always helpful?
/Mindfulness and meditation are widely recommended for stress, anxiety, and emotional wellbeing. Many people find them helpful, sometimes deeply so. But they are not experienced in the same way by everyone, and in some situations they can raise difficulties that are not often discussed.
In psychotherapy, especially when working with trauma or nervous system dysregulation, it is important to approach meditation with curiosity rather than assuming it is universally helpful. Practices that increase awareness can sometimes bring people into contact with experiences that feel unfamiliar, intense, or difficult to regulate.
Some years ago I attended a 10-day mindfulness meditation retreat. During the retreat we practised two techniques: one focused on maintaining attention on the breath, and another on developing awareness of bodily sensations as they arose and passed.
Many aspects of the retreat were positive. Having time set aside for reflection, the period of Noble Silence, and the kindness of the people running the course created a calm and supportive environment. The meditation schedule was intensive, with up to six and a half hours of practice per day.
Observing my own experience
Through psychotherapy training and personal therapy, I had already spent many years learning to observe my inner experience and manage difficult emotional states. This background helped me notice quite clearly what was happening during meditation.
Focusing on the breath felt relatively straightforward once the technique settled. However, when attention shifted towards bodily sensations, the experience sometimes became more challenging. At times I noticed sensations or emotional reactions that felt uncomfortable or destabilising.
Because of that background, I was able to recognise what was happening and regulate my attention when needed. Even so, it raised an important question for me: how might someone experience this practice if they did not yet have the same level of psychological understanding or emotional regulation?
Conversations after the retreat
At the end of the retreat the period of Noble Silence ended and participants began speaking with one another. Through these conversations I discovered that many people attending the retreat were hoping meditation might help them manage significant psychological difficulties.
Some described struggles with obsessive behaviour, addictions, depression, or hearing voices. Others spoke about feeling emotionally overwhelmed during parts of the meditation practice, particularly when focusing on bodily sensations. A few explained that they had stopped practising certain techniques because the experience felt too disturbing.
This was not surprising. Practices that increase awareness can bring people into contact with experiences they may not yet feel able to process or regulate.
Mindfulness and psychological safety
In psychotherapy, exploring inner experience can sometimes bring difficult emotions into awareness. Feelings, memories, or patterns that have remained outside conscious awareness may gradually emerge.
When this happens in therapy, it is approached within a therapeutic relationship where the therapist can help monitor emotional activation and support the person in staying within a manageable range of experience.
Without that kind of support, increased awareness can sometimes feel overwhelming rather than helpful.
This was one of the reflections that emerged for me during the retreat: mindfulness practices may bring psychological material closer to the surface, but they do not always provide the relational context or guidance needed to work with what appears.
Mindfulness and psychotherapy
This does not mean mindfulness is inherently problematic. Many people benefit greatly from meditation practices, particularly when they are introduced gradually and adapted to the person.
Simple forms of mindfulness — such as gentle attention to the breath, mindful walking, or focusing on everyday activities with awareness — can help develop concentration and calm.
However, when meditation begins to bring difficult emotional experiences into awareness, it may be helpful to approach this work with appropriate support. Psychotherapy can provide a relational space in which these experiences can be explored safely and meaningfully.
Within therapy, increased awareness is accompanied by containment, reflection, and relational support, which can help the nervous system remain regulated while difficult material is processed.
A balanced view
My experience of the retreat did not lead me to reject mindfulness. I continue to find aspects of meditation valuable in my own life.
At the same time, the experience reinforced an important principle: practices that increase awareness can uncover experiences that require psychological understanding, emotional regulation, and relational support.
For some people, mindfulness may be most helpful when it develops alongside psychotherapy, rather than as a replacement for it.
If meditation practice begins to feel unsettling or overwhelming, it may be worth exploring these experiences within a therapeutic setting, where they can be approached gradually and safely.
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