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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Guide

MBCT is a modified form of cognitive therapy that incorporates mindfulness practices like meditation and breathing exercises. It is conducted in weekly group sessions over eight weeks to teach clients how to break negative thought patterns and fight off depression before it takes hold. MBCT was developed to prevent relapse in people with recurring depression and has been shown to be effective for those with three or more episodes of major depressive disorder. It works by helping clients develop a meditation practice to use when overwhelmed, allowing them to replace automatic negative thoughts with more positive responses through mindfulness training.

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Dhia Aini Fatimah
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476 views2 pages

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Guide

MBCT is a modified form of cognitive therapy that incorporates mindfulness practices like meditation and breathing exercises. It is conducted in weekly group sessions over eight weeks to teach clients how to break negative thought patterns and fight off depression before it takes hold. MBCT was developed to prevent relapse in people with recurring depression and has been shown to be effective for those with three or more episodes of major depressive disorder. It works by helping clients develop a meditation practice to use when overwhelmed, allowing them to replace automatic negative thoughts with more positive responses through mindfulness training.

Uploaded by

Dhia Aini Fatimah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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MINDFULNESS BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a modified form of cognitive therapy


that incorporates mindfulness practices such as meditation and breathing exercises.
Using these tools, MBCT therapists teach clients how to break away from negative
thought patterns that can cause a downward spiral into a depressed state so they will be
able to fight off depression before it takes hold.

When It's Used

MBCT was developed for people with recurring episodes of depression or unhappiness,
to prevent relapse. It has been proven effective in patients with major depressive disorder
who have experienced at least three episodes of depression. Mindfulness-based relapse
prevention may also be helpful for treating generalized anxiety disorders and addictions.
MBCT has also been shown to improve symptoms of depression in some people with
physical health conditions, such as vascular disease and traumatic brain injury.

What to Expect

MBCT is group therapy, with once-a-week, two-hour sessions, led by your therapist, as
part of an eight-week program. You will learn meditation techniques as well as basic
principles of cognition, such as the relationship between the way you think and how you
feel. You will also have the opportunity to learn more about your depressive condition. On
the days when there is no session, there is homework, which includes practicing breathing
exercises and mindful meditation.

How It Works

Sometimes normal sadness is a powerful trigger for someone who has recovered from a
depressive state to relapse into another bout of depression. Rather than try to avoid or
eliminate sadness or other negative emotions, one learns to change their relationship with
these emotions by practicing meditation and other mindfulness exercises. These activities
rebalance neural networks, allowing the client to move away from automatic negative
responses toward an understanding that there are other ways to respond to situations.
By developing a routine meditation practice, clients can use the technique whenever they
start to feel overwhelmed by negative emotions. When sadness occurs and starts to bring
up the usual negative associations that trigger relapse of depression, the client is
equipped with tools that will help them replace negative thought patterns with positive.

Mindfulness training exercises include deliberately focusing on the breath as an


anchor for your attention, maintaining an open awareness of whatever thoughts
and feelings spontaneously arise in your mind and body, and deliberately
directing kind and compassionate feelings towards self and others.

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