Application of mindfulness approaches for promoting mental health of students in school counselling

This chapter examines the application of mindfulness approaches for promoting mental and spiritual health of students in a school counselling context in Hong Kong. Mindfulness, which is a spiritual practice originated from an Asian tradition, has been promoted to school students as an approach of mental health and counselling in the West since the late 1990s. Pilot studies of mindfulness programmes have been carried out for children and adolescents with special education needs including ADHD, autism and emotional behaviour disorders. Research found that mindfulness practice could facilitate general students to improve academic performance, mental health, social skills and quality of life. Yet teaching mindfulness to students as a whole-school counselling approach in the Hong Kong Chinese context is still under research. Apart from reviewing recent mindfulness programmes for children and adolescents, this article discusses possible strategies in applying mindfulness in school counselling in a Hong Kong context. Copyright © 2016 Taylor and Francis.