science

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy rather than just read about it. In short: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness techniques in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to prevent depression-relapse. MBCT was developed by Philip Barnard and John D.

Key takeaways

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness techniques in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to prevent depression-relapse. MBCT was developed by Philip Barnard and John D. Teasdale, and Zindel Segal, building on Jon Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). CBT-inspired methods are used in MBCT, such as psycho-education, educating the participant about depression and the role that cognition plays within it. Like CBT, MBCT is built on the etiological theory that depression-relapse may occur when individuals, who have had a depression, become distressed, and return to automatic cognitive processes that can trigger a depressive episode. The goal of MBCT is to interrupt these automatic processes, and teach the participants to focus less on reacting to incoming stimuli, and instead accepting and observing them without judgment. Like MBSR, the mindfulness practice encourages the participant to notice when automatic processes are occurring, and to respond less reactive and more reflective. MBCT encourages "decentering," becoming aware of all incoming thoughts and feelings and accepting them, but not attaching or reacting to them. This process aims to aid an individual in disengaging from self-criticism, rumination, and dysphoric moods that can arise when reacting to negative thinking patterns.

Origins and development MBCT was developed by John Teasdale, Philip Barnard, Zindel Segal and Mark Williams, combining elements from Kabat-Zin's mindfulness-based stress reduction program with elements from cognitive behaviotal therapy.

Kabat-Zin: Mindfulness-based stress reduction Jon Kabat-Zin developed his mindfulness-based stress reduction out of his personal experience with Buddhist meditation, stressing mindfulness as the critical component.

Barnard & Teasdale: Model of Interacting Cognitive Subsystems In 1991, building on Kabat-Zin's work, Philip Barnard and John Teasdale created a multilevel concept of the mind called "Interacting Cognitive Subsystems" (ICS). According to this model, the mind has multiple modes, that are responsible for receiving and processing new information cognitively and emotionally. The two main modes of mind are the "doing" mode and the "being" mode. The "doing" mode is also known as the "driven" mode. This mode is very goal-oriented and is triggered when the mind develops a discrepancy between how things are and how the mind wishes things to be. The second main mode of mind is the "being" mode. This mode is not focused on achieving specific goals; instead, the emphasis is on "accepting and allowing what is," without any immediate pressure to change it. A central component of ICS is metacognitive awareness: the ability to experience negative thoughts and feelings as mental events that pass through the mind, rather than as a part of the self. Individuals with high metacognitive awareness are able to avoid depression and negative thought patterns more easily during stressful life situations, in comparison with individuals with low metacognitive awareness. Meta-cognitive awareness is regularly reflected through an individual's ability to decenter. Decentering is the ability to be aware of incoming thoughts and feelings, and accepting them, but not attaching or reacting to them, perceiving thoughts and feelings as both impermanent and objective occurrences in the mind. This process aims to aid an individual in disengaging from self-criticism, rumination, and dysphoric moods that can arise when reacting to negative thinking patterns. According to this model, an individual's vulnerability to depression is related to the degree to which he/she relies on only one of the modes of mind, inadvertently blocking the other modes. Mental health is related to an individual's ability to disengage from one mode or to easily move among the modes of mind. Individuals who are able to flexibly move between the modes of mind based on conditions in the environment are in the most favorable state. The ICS model theorizes that the "being" mode is the most likely mode of mind that will lead to lasting emotional changes. Therefore, to prevent relapse in depression, cognitive therapy must promote this mode. This led Teasdale to the creation of MBCT, which promotes the "being" mode.

Working method

Cognitive-behavioral elements CBT-inspired methods are used in MBCT, such as psycho-education, educating the participant about depression and the role that cognition plays within it. Like CBT, MBCT is build on the etiological theory that depression-relapse may occur when individuals, who have had a depression, become distressed, they return to automatic cognitive processes that can trigger a depressive episode. The goal of MBCT is to interrupt these automatic processes and teach the participants to focus less on reacting to incoming stimuli, and instead accepting and observing them without judgment.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

In research: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cognitive behavioral therapy, Cognitive therapy, Meditation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in simple terms?

Why does Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.