Mindfulness represents the most significant shift in the world of counselling and psychotherapy within the last decade. Mindful approaches have been hailed as the 'third wave' of cognitive behavioural-therapy and mindfulness has been recommended – and found to be effective at treating – a wide variety of mental health issues. There has been a proliferation of popular self-help books based on mindfulness approaches, and much debate between western mindfulness practitioners and Buddhist scholars about the ways in which mindful theory and practice is being adapted for western audiences. To date, however, there has been relatively little research or writing considering the potentials of mindfulness for the arena of sexual and relationship therapy.

This book aims to address this by bringing together many of the key practitioners and researchers who are working in this area. The book presents a range of perspectives on what mindful theory and practice has to offer to our understandings of, and work with, sex and relationships.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Sexual and Relationship Therapy.