Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Although research in this area is in its infancy, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is generally revealed by a recent overview to be a promising therapy in terms of clinical effectiveness.
In an article called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: Evaluating Current Evidence and Informing Future Research, published last December in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (PubMed reference here, plus related links), Helen F. Coelho and colleagues looked into all currently available research and found only four relevant studies on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which showed some positive, yet inconclusive, results for people who suffer from chronic, recurrent depression. There were certain benefits, but due to the nature of the control groups, it was hard to attribute them solely to the specific technique of psychotherapy used.
This seems to reiterate the general research conclusions for all kinds of counselling and psychotherapy — that all schools or techniques are equally effective. [Editor's note: For more on this so-called "dodo bird verdict", see our review of Hubble, Duncan and Miller.] The effective agent seems to be something in the very fact of going to therapy itself, something about the relationship, the space, or the motivation of the client.
I do believe though, that specific schools have something specific to offer to particular therapists and particular clients, a good fit being the vital element.
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, in looking clearly at thought processes and gradually detaching from them, offers a wonderful sense of having something practical to work with, as you edge your way towards freedom and chip away at the glue sticking you to those depressive thoughts, which can become a complete circular system, in fact, a prison.
One key may be the lack of judgment of one’s thoughts. This may be what works on an emotional level, as people with depression often suffer from extreme levels of self-blame.
The liberation in realising that we are not our thoughts is one shared by cognitive therapists and Buddhists alike.
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This article was last reviewed by on Thursday, 14th February 2008. You can leave a response below.
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15th February 2008
Hi Sarah,
I think depression is anger turned inwards instead of appropriately outwards.
Mindfulness may help with this.
Detaching from our thoughts can, I think, be either a liberation or pathological. If we are not our thoughts where do they come from? And (significantly for therapy) what could I do about them? Is being a passive observer of our experience the goal of therapy? I don’t find it an attractive one.
This is, in some ways, just disputing about words. And I agree wholeheartedly that it is the relationship (not the school) which brings the healing. However, I think what mindfulness is an does, needs to be spelled out in greater detail. Then we can better understand how it contributes to healing.
15th February 2008
Hi Evan!
You’re right,there’s a lot more to be said about mindfulness, what it is and does! I hope to say some of how I see it in future posts…
I think it is very often the case that depression is anger turned inwards, but not always…it is always some kind of blocked state but every depression is different as is every person - some people may need to approach the stuckness primarily on an emotional level and others may need to deal with the mental level.
Is being a passive observer of our thoughts the goal of therapy? The short answer in my opinion is no! But separating out one’s whole being, one’s directly experiencing and sensing self from the partial and crippling messages which can start to dominate the life of some people with OCD, or depression, is a crucial first step.
15th February 2008
Hi there,
my name is abby.. i am in a situation at the moment whr i have got anxiety .. PANIC ATTACKS & BEING ANXIOUS most of the time! how do i get rid of them? WILL THERAPY HELP ME ?
15th February 2008
Hi Abby,
Many people I know have been helped by therapy to get over panic attacks.
Choose a therapist that you connect with and trust (though you mightn’t ‘like’ them as such). If you have friends who have been to therapy talk to them about who they went to and what their therapist was like.
Therapy can have huge benefits. In my experience it could be a very good thing for you to do.
17th February 2008
Hi Abby,
I agree with Evan, I have had quite a lot of experience in helping people with panic attacks and anxiety, and speaking to a counsellor can really, really help.
There is a free online course here http://www.panic-attacks.co.uk/panic_course_contents.htm
which can help you understand and deal with your panic attacks.
It is also good to make sure you do not isolate yourself and keep in contact with friends and people that you know, even though it may be hard at the moment.
Wishing you all the best.
18th February 2008
Hmmm, I’m not convinced by the ‘free online course’, Sarah… We used to link to that site in our Web Resources section, based on a review from a few years ago, but having had a peek at it just now, I see it’s become part of a large network of what look to me like fairly low-content sites designed to funnel traffic to a Brighton-based company selling hypnosis services, tapes and CDs. So I’ve removed our link to it from the Web Resources section — not because it sells stuff (lots of people do that!), but because it’s part of that large network which seems to exist solely for that purpose.
There are lots of other great panic-related and anxiety-related resources out there, though, including several which offer free online courses — e.g., The Panic Center, the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, Shake Your Shyness, and of course the granddaddy of all online CBT services, the Australian National University’s MoodGYM.
All the best,
Greg