Mindfulness-Based Therapy

A Christian Integration for Present-Moment Healing

In today’s fast-paced, anxious world, it’s common for individuals to feel overwhelmed by their thoughts, worries, and emotional pain. Many seek relief through counseling, but traditional talk therapy doesn’t always help clients feel grounded in the moment. That’s where mindfulness-based therapy offers something unique—a path to healing rooted in presence, acceptance, and awareness.

While mindfulness has often been associated with Eastern religions, a growing number of Christian therapists are rediscovering how the practice of mindful awareness can align with biblical principles. Dr. Joshua Knabb, a leading voice in Christian psychology, has been instrumental in reclaiming mindfulness from a faith-integrated perspective—offering Christian clients a way to experience God’s presence, regulate distress, and renew the mind.

This post explores the foundations, process, and benefits of mindfulness-based therapy and how it can be meaningfully adapted for Christian clients seeking both emotional and spiritual healing.

A Brief History of Mindfulness-Based Therapy

Mindfulness practices originate from ancient Buddhist traditions focused on meditation, breath work, and cultivating awareness without judgment. In the late 20th century, Jon Kabat-Zinn, a molecular biologist, introduced mindfulness to Western psychology by creating Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). His 8-week program integrated meditation with medical science to help people manage chronic pain, anxiety, and depression.

Since then, mindfulness-based approaches have proliferated in therapy—leading to the development of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and other clinical models.

However, early Christian traditions also contain rich practices of mindfulness—though they go by different names: prayer of the heart, contemplative prayer, lectio divina, and watchfulness have long emphasized stillness, attentiveness to God, and awareness of the inner life. Today, Christian psychologists like Joshua Knabb are helping the Church rediscover these spiritual treasures and translate them into clinical practice.

What Is Mindfulness-Based Therapy?

Mindfulness-based therapy is a psychological approach that integrates mindfulness practices into counseling to support emotional regulation, stress reduction, and healing from trauma or distress. At its core, mindfulness involves:

• Paying attention to the present moment

• With openness and curiosity

• And without judgment

Clients are guided to notice their thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and impulses—without trying to fix, suppress, or avoid them. Instead of getting swept up in anxiety about the future or regret over the past, mindfulness invites a return to the now.

Therapists may use techniques such as breath awareness, body scans, mindful movement, and guided meditation to help clients slow down and observe their internal experience. Over time, clients learn to relate differently to distress—responding with curiosity rather than fear.

A Christian Perspective on Mindfulness (with Knabb’s Contributions)

For some Christians, the word “mindfulness” can feel foreign or even spiritually suspicious. However, Dr. Joshua Knabb provides a compelling framework for how mindfulness can be authentically Christian.

In Christian Meditation in Clinical Practice, Faith-Based ACT, and The Christian Mindfulness Workbook, Knabb emphasizes that mindfulness is not a religion—it’s a way of attending to one’s internal experience. When infused with a Christian worldview, mindfulness becomes a practice of abiding in Christ, renewing the mind (Romans 12:2), and learning to live “with God in the present moment” (Psalm 46:10).

Knabb’s approach draws heavily from:

• The life of Jesus—who often withdrew to quiet places for prayer and embodied peace in the present.

• Christian contemplative traditions—from the Desert Fathers and Mothers to Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen.

• Scripture-based meditation—especially lectio divina, which combines mindfulness with prayerful attention to God’s Word.

He also emphasizes that Christian mindfulness focuses not on emptying the mind but on anchoring it—often through the name of Jesus, Scripture passages, or God’s character. This approach allows clients to regulate distress without compromising their spiritual convictions.

Key Components of the Mindfulness Process

In therapy sessions that incorporate mindfulness, several core practices help clients become more aware, regulated, and spiritually grounded:

1. Breath Awareness Clients are guided to focus on the breath—God’s gift of life—as a stabilizing anchor in the moment.

2. Body Scan Meditation Attention is brought to each part of the body to notice tension, emotion, or pain with compassion and acceptance.

3. Christian Centering Practice Clients may silently repeat the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me”), a short Scripture, or God’s name as a way to still the mind.

4. Lectio Divina A meditative reading of Scripture that includes reading, reflecting, responding, and resting with the text.

5. Mindful Journaling Clients reflect on moments of emotional or spiritual awareness between sessions—tracking what they notice, feel, and how they sense God’s presence.

6. Present-Moment Check-Ins Therapists regularly ask, “What’s happening right now in your body, thoughts, and spirit?” This cultivates awareness and regulation.

Who Is a Good Fit for Mindfulness-Based Therapy?

Mindfulness-based therapy can be helpful for a wide range of individuals, particularly those who:

• Struggle with anxiety, panic, or chronic stress

• Experience racing thoughts or intrusive thinking

• Live with depression or emotional numbness

• Have experienced trauma and need grounding skills

• Feel disconnected from their body or emotions

• Want to grow in their spiritual life through embodied awareness

• Seek a holistic approach to healing that involves body, mind, and spirit

Mindfulness-based therapy may be especially meaningful for Christian clients who have a contemplative temperament or desire to integrate their faith into emotional regulation.

Who Might Not Be a Good Fit for Mindfulness-Based Therapy?

While mindfulness-based therapy is broadly helpful, it may not be ideal for everyone. Clients may need a different approach if they:

• Have recently experienced acute trauma and are still hyper-aroused

• Struggle with severe dissociation or psychosis, which can be exacerbated by internal focus

• Have theological discomfort or resistance to mindfulness terms or practices

• Prefer highly structured or cognitive frameworks (e.g., traditional CBT)

• Feel unsafe or dysregulated when focusing on internal sensations without extensive stabilization

In such cases, therapists can adapt mindfulness strategies gradually or focus on other grounding and coping skills first.

What to Expect in a Mindfulness-Based Session

A typical session that includes mindfulness may follow this rhythm:

1. Check-In and Present-Moment Awareness The therapist begins by asking the client to tune into their body, breath, and emotional state.

2. Mindfulness Practice The therapist may lead a short meditation, breath exercise, or Scripture-based reflection for grounding.

3. Exploration of Emotions and Thoughts Clients are encouraged to name what’s arising without judgment—allowing space for insight and integration.

4. Spiritual Reflection (Optional) For Christian clients, the session may include prayer, reflection on God’s presence, or dialogue about how faith informs what’s emerging.

5. Integration and Practice The session ends by identifying takeaways, assigning a practice (e.g., breath prayer or mindful journaling), and reinforcing safety and stability.

Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapy

Mindfulness-based interventions have been widely studied and are supported by strong clinical evidence. Research shows that mindfulness helps reduce symptoms of:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• PTSD

• Chronic pain

• Emotional dysregulation

• Burnout

Joshua Knabb has contributed to research demonstrating that Christian-adapted mindfulness can be just as effective—if not more so—for Christian clients. In one of his studies, participants who engaged in Christian meditation showed reduced anxiety and increased spiritual well-being.

Moreover, many clients report increased emotional resilience, deeper spiritual connection, and improved ability to respond (rather than react) to distress.

Length of Treatment

Mindfulness-based therapy can be delivered in both short-term and long-term formats:

• Short-Term: Many clients benefit from 8-week programs like MBSR or MBCT, adapted to include Christian practices and language.

• Long-Term: For others, mindfulness becomes a lifestyle and a spiritual discipline they practice well beyond the counseling room.

Therapists can also weave mindfulness into ongoing therapy as one tool among many, depending on client goals and preferences.

Why Faith-Based Clients May Find Mindfulness Therapy Meaningful

For Christian clients, mindfulness is not simply a technique—it can be a path to communion with God. When mindfulness is Christ-centered, it becomes a way to:

• Abide in God’s presence (John 15:4)

• Renew the mind (Romans 12:2)

• Receive peace beyond understanding (Philippians 4:7)

• Be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10)

Joshua Knabb’s work helps Christian clients reclaim ancient spiritual practices that invite them to slow down, breathe deeply, and remember who they are in Christ. Rather than fearing emotion or suppressing pain, they are invited to bring their whole selves before God with honesty and hope.

Conclusion & Call to Action

Mindfulness-based therapy offers a gentle, powerful path for healing—and when rooted in Christ, it becomes a means of spiritual renewal as well.

If you are navigating anxiety, grief, trauma, or spiritual disconnection, a mindfulness-based approach might be a meaningful next step. At Restoration Counseling, our faith-based therapists are trained to integrate Christian mindfulness practices into your healing journey in a way that is both clinically effective and spiritually grounded.

You don’t have to run from your pain. You can learn to be present with it—and discover that God is already there.

Ready to begin? Reach out to schedule an initial session with one of our Christian mindfulness-informed therapists. We would be honored to walk with you.

References

• Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness. Delacorte.

• Knabb, J. J. (2017). Christian Meditation in Clinical Practice: A Four-Step Model and Workbook for Therapists and Clients. InterVarsity Press.

• Knabb, J. J. (2018). Faith-Based ACT for Christian Clients: An Integrative Treatment Approach. Routledge.

• Knabb, J. J. (2021). The Christian Mindfulness Workbook: A Guide to Spiritual and Psychological Growth. Zondervan.

• Nouwen, H. J. M. (1975). The Way of the Heart: Connecting with God through Prayer, Wisdom, and Silence. HarperOne.

• Romans 12:2, Psalm 46:10, John 15:4, Philippians 4:7. (New International Version).