Mindfulness Homework for PTSD: How to Do It
Booz Allen
Department of Veterans Affairs
Yale University
University of Nevada, Reno
Key Points
- One type of exercise for between-session practice is to do 5 to 10 minutes of mindful attention while engaging in any daily activity.
- Over time, the client will be able to generalize these skills from neutral situations to more difficult content.
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Transcript
A classic mode for practicing mindfulness is to be mindful while practicing everyday activities like walking, washing dishes, chopping vegetables—anything you would normally do in a day. So, for the homework activity following the introduction of a focus on present moment awareness, you could ask the person to choose one thing each day that they will do mindfully.
Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.
It can be useful if they identify what that activity will be ahead of time so that they don’t forget. It could be the same activity throughout the week each day or it could be a different activity each day. It doesn’t really matter. But you may want to ask them to practice mindfully engaging for 5 to 10 minutes each day as a starting place.
Batten, S. V. (2011). Essentials of acceptance and commitment therapy. SAGE Publications Ltd.