Abstract
Sigmund Freud spoke of therapeutic presence as emerging from an impartial, nonjudgemental,
evenly applied attention. Carl Rogers referred to therapeutic presence as
the essential underlying process in the therapeutic relationship. It has been shown that
therapeutic presence is a crosscutting concern in the therapeutic relationship
regardless of modality. The quality of presence of the therapist has been found to have
a positive influence on therapeutic outcomes. Emerging research in neurobiology
suggests that mindfulness practice can have a positive impact on attentional abilities,
working memory, present-centred focus and increased affect tolerance. The aim of
this study is to enrich the existing research on therapeutic presence, to provide an
investigation into the nature of absence in the therapeutic relationship and finally to
support the hypothesis that mindfulness practice may be linked to increased
therapeutic presence and therefore have a positive effect on therapeutic outcomes. A
thematic analysis was applied to five semi-structured interviews. The findings were
discussed under the following themes: Inhabiting the Present, Absence and
Integration. This study found consensus among the interviewees that therapeutic
presence was a core component to their work with clients and began with their own
level of personal integration. The exploration of absence brought a deeper
understanding to how mindfulness practice can bring more self-acceptance and less
self-judgement to the therapist. Finally, the research strongly suggests that the
integration of mindfulness practice may bring secondary benefits to the therapist such
as increased attentional ability, an increase in perceived self-care & vitality and a
decreased risk of burnout. This study found strong justification for further research on
5
the effects of mindfulness practice on the quality of therapeutic presence, especially in
the case of longitudinal studies. Author keywords: Mindfulness, therapeutic presence
