Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a treatment programme specifically developed to help people who suffer recurrent depression and to help prevent the depression from coming back or relapsing. It is based on Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programme. Research shows that MBSR is beneficial for patients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as anxiety and panic.
MBCT involves practising mindfulness techniques and helps you better understand the patterns of your mind. Meditation is not about clearing the mind, but rather becoming fully aware of the habitual patterns it has a tendency to follow. Practising mindfulness skills within the context of MBCT allow people to see how certain patterns of thinking lead to escalation of emotions and see clearly what sorts of actions lead to more wholesome and positive outcomes in everyday life. It gives patients courage to face distressing moods, thoughts and sensations without fighting with them. It can help transform how we relate to unpleasant thoughts and feelings and view them from a different perspective and improve their quality of life.
