A brief, interpersonally oriented mindfulness intervention incorporating Functional Analytic Psychotherapy׳s model of awareness, courage and love

•We developed a brief, group FAP mindfulness intervention.•Both FAP and a traditional intervention improved state mindfulness.•The FAP intervention demonstrated unique improvements on social connectedness.

A brief, group mindfulness intervention targeting both state mindfulness and social connectedness was developed based on Functional Analytic Psychotherapy׳s model of awareness, courage, and love. A total of 114 college students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) a nature video control, (2) a traditional intrapersonal mindfulness intervention focused on awareness of breath and private stimuli such as bodily sensations, thoughts, and feelings, or (3) an interpersonal mindfulness intervention that emphasized (a) expanding awareness from private internal to external public stimuli associated with the presence of others, (b) a contemplation of common humanity and risks participants could take to improve a specific relationship, and (c) a brief small group interaction involving courageous sharing of these risks. Results indicated significant benefits of all three conditions with respect to state mindfulness with both mindfulness conditions outperforming the nature video, and significant benefits of both mindfulness conditions with respect to social connectedness, with the interpersonal mindfulness condition outperforming the intrapersonal condition. Limitations include no follow-up data to explore the maintenance of gains over time.