The eye and the 'I': The construction and use of the observer in cognitive-analytic psychotherapy and mindfulness-based therapy

Abstract

This paper explores issues in the integration of cognitive-analytic therapy and mindfulness-based therapy. Differences in the conceptualization of the observer part of the self in both approaches - as centralized and independent as opposed to decentralized and fluid - are associated with different therapeutic emphases - on task and structure versus process. The tensions between these clinical and theoretical stances are explored, both in an individual and organizational (NHS) context. © The authors. British Journal of Psychotherapy © 2012 BAP and Blackwell Publishing Ltd.