Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

March 28 2024 TalktoAngel 0 comments 993 Views

Recurrent episodes of depression and anxiety may leave one feeling depleted, unsure of how to proceed or break free, or feeling like their life has lost color. There are proven strategies that work and empower you to break away from the patterns that contribute to recurring and long-lasting periods of anxiety and depression.

MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) integrates mindfulness-based training practices, meditation, and the principles of cognitive therapy. The core of the program is to become familiar with the mental states that can cause mood disorders, as well as learn how to build an entirely new connection to them. Mindfulness training can open up possibilities and opportunities to live the life you want to live, in new ways; to develop new techniques and completely new methods of working with and connecting with your mind.

Why does MBCT differ from other therapies?

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy is a method that helps us discover and comprehend patterns of thinking and feeling in the hope of creating more effective, new patterns. With this approach to therapy, people can learn to employ cognitive techniques and mindfulness techniques to disrupt the automatic processes that are often responsible for triggering depression.

Researchers have discovered that when individuals who have a previous history of depression exhibit an uneasy mood they can also have negative thoughts and memories from the past. This could, in turn, cause anxiety about the future, as well as physical sensations like fatigue. MBCT assists participants in learning to identify their being and how to perceive themselves as independent of their moods and thoughts. This can enable people to break free from mental patterns that can trigger the same negative thoughts that can be repeated over and over. When they are aware of the distinction between emotions, thoughts, and the self, individuals who are in treatment might discover that, while the self and emotions are both present they don't have to be in the same framework. This understanding can aid in healing by helping people discover how to bring positive thoughts into moods, to overcome negative emotions.

As a whole, MBCT seeks to provide participants with the tools needed to manage depression symptoms when they develop. Anyone who has learned these skills will be able to return to these techniques during times of anxiety or in stressful circumstances.

Techniques Used In MBCT

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy builds on the fundamentals of cognitive therapy and uses methods like mindfulness meditation that teach people to be aware of thoughts as well as emotions without imposing any judgments on them. Numerous practices and mindfulness techniques are used as a component of MBCT. A few of them are:

Meditation: Some people engage in self-directed or guided meditation that can help them develop a greater awareness of their thoughts, body, and breath.

Body scan exercise: The process involves lying on your back and bringing awareness and focus to different parts of the body. The majority of people begin with their toes before moving across their body until they get to the top of their head.

Mindfulness-based practices: Mindfulness is the practice of trying to be more conscious in the current moment. It can be done in meditation, however, people can incorporate these practices into their activities daily.

Yoga: MBCT could also inspire patients to perform various yoga poses in the practice of conscious stretching of their body.

Individuals receiving therapy in MBCT are also taught cognitive concepts, such as the connection between ideas and feelings, and frequently have the opportunity to comprehend their stress, anxiety, and depression better.

Issues Treated With MBCT

It is believed that mindfulness can improve health and wellbeing. Numerous studies have shown that mindfulness is associated with lower levels of depression and anxiety. Therefore, regardless of the particular difficulties being addressed, many mental health practitioners have included mindfulness-promoting exercises in therapy sessions. These activities have been proven to help reduce symptoms of depression, decrease stress, and increase emotional control. MBCT specifically can be employed as a principal treatment option or with other therapies.

How Does MBCT Work?

MBCT is offered as a weekly group therapy program for eight weeks. Each weekly session runs for 2 hours. However, the completion of an assignment of 45 minutes each day of the week is also mandatory. Participants in treatment are exposed to a technique known as the three-minute breath space. This method encourages patients to integrate formal practices into their everyday lives. While there isn't a consensus about the definition of mindfulness, however, the basic idea is the process of developing without judgment and having an increased awareness of what's taking place in one's body and mind at any given moment.

Benefits of MBCT

The practice of mindfulness helps you be able to see the patterns in the mind and how to spot the signs that your mood is starting to drop. This allows you to "nip it in the early stages" sooner than you did the moment you first started.

The practice of mindfulness can assist you in breaking the automatic connection between negative thoughts, moods, and bodily sensations like tiredness as well as "sluggishness" that often links and triggers or triggers the downward spiral of mood.

Mindfulness lets you "shift gears" from a mental state that is which is dominated by critical and judgemental thinking (likely to trigger and accelerate negative mood swings) to a new mode of thinking where you can instantly experience the world in a non-conceptual and non-judgemental way.

Mindfulness can be a great alternative method of managing difficult moods and emotions.

By focusing on mindfulness, you will find that unpleasant and unwelcome thoughts and emotions can be held in conscious awareness and examined in a completely different way and perspective. This provides a feeling of compassion and warmth for the pain you're experiencing.

Being mindful may help you develop the ability to connect with yourself, live in the present, and cherish the little things in life.

Talk to your Online Counsellor for MBCT and check with them how it could be used in your Online Counselling session. TalktoAngel can connect you with the Best Psychologists in India who use MBCT as one of the therapies in their practice.

Contribution by: Dr (Prof) R K Suri, Best Clinical Psychologist & Life Coach & Mr. Utkarsh Yadav, Counselling Psychologist