Mindfulness & Acceptance in Social Work: Evidence-Based Interventions & Emerging Applications

Social work focuses on serving the most vulnerable members of society, and social workers must often address the contextual forces that contribute to human problems. Mindfulness and acceptance are powerful tools for this practice. By offering interventions like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), social workers can help their clients become more aware and take effective action.

In Mindfulness and Acceptance in Social Work, editor and social worker Matthew S. Boone brings together contributions from emerging voices in social work, such as Elana Rosenbaum, Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, and Diana Coholic, along with ACT pioneers Kirk Strosahl, Patricia Robinson, and others. This book focuses not only on mindfulness-based interventions for direct practice, but also on the intersection of mindfulness and social work education, cultural diversity, and macro social work. It includes a framework for moving past culturally-informed biases, and for how to best utilize mindfulness interventions for both individuals and the community at large.

Matthew S. Boone, LCSW, teaches acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) at the School of Social Work at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and practices ACT, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and other cognitive behavioral therapies at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System. He is an Association of Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) peer-reviewed trainer in ACT, a founder of the ACBS Social Work ACT Special Interest Group, and a recipient of the Boston University School of Social Work Alumni Association award for outstanding contributions to the field of social work.