Mindfulness training and the cultivation of secure, satisfying couple relationships.

Abstract

Conscious efforts to improve relationships may fall short because the skillful navigation of relationships depends as much on automatic internal processes that occur outside of awareness as it does on conscious intentional effort. A growing body of research suggests that a particular form of mental training, mindfulness meditation, may improve the way the brain automatically processes and organizes relationshiprelevant cognition and behavior. Mindfulness training appears to promote structural and functional changes in neural circuits that mediate attention, regulate physiology and emotion, and enhance or inhibit the capacity for empathy. After reviewing behavioral benefits and neural changes associated with mindfulness training, studies investigating the relationship between mindfulness and intimate relationship satisfaction and stability are examined. Efforts to integrate elements of mindfulness training into educational programs and therapies for couples are then reviewed.