Thought recognition and psychological well-being: An empirical test of principle based correctional counselling

Aims: To determine the relationship between thought recognition, a major construct of principle-based correctional counselling, and psychological wellbeing. Method: Following several weekly group sessions of Principle-Based Correctional Counselling, 54 adult prisoners on probation completed two measures of thought recognition and the Well-Being Inventory. In a follow-up study, 30 participants completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Results: Significant positive relationships were found between both measures of thought recognition and psychological wellbeing and, in the follow-up study, both measures of thought recognition and mindfulness. Discussion: Possible explanations for the relationship between thought recognition and psychological wellbeing, and thought recognition and mindfulness are discussed. Implications for practice: Teaching correctional clients the principles behind generic human psychological functioning, and the innate design behind human thinking, appears to improve thei...