Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

 
 

MBCT is designed specifically for people who suffer repeated bouts of depression to help prevent the depression from coming back.  It is shown to be most suitable for people who are currently well.  Evidence indicates MBCT may reduce the rate of relapse for individuals with recurrent depression by 50%.  MBCT has also been shown to be helpful for people who suffer with a broader range of mood and anxiety concerns other than depression. 

“Of the treatments specifically designed to reduce relapse, group-based mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has the strongest evidence base with evidence that it is likely to be effective in people who have experienced three or more depressive episodes.”
— National Institute for Clinical Excellence 2009

By developing your mindfulness practice on an MBCT course you can expect to:

  • re connect with your whole body experience instead of tending to live in your thoughts
  • become more familiar with the way your mind works and to notice old habits of mind that can trip you up, triggering downward spirals of worry
  • discover ways of releasing yourself from habitual ways of reacting so that you can choose how best to respond to things
  •  help you to explore new ways of relating to your day to day experience that has a strong emphasis on being less critical and more understanding towards yourself
  • to notice the small things in life that bring beauty and pleasure that so often get missed because of the tendency to live in our heads
  • to accept yourself as you are instead of persistently judging and wanting to be a better version of yourself. 

MBCT courses take the form of 8 weekly classes, plus an all-day session held at around week 6. A set of guided meditations accompany the programme, so that participants can practise at home once a day, six days a week, throughout the course.

To hear one of the developers of MBCT Professor Mark Williams talk about MBCT click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG4xaA3y948

For other information about current research, on events and training see Oxford Mindfulness Centre.

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