Mindfulness

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Mindfulness has become very popular in recent years and we are seeing a large quantity of research published on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based group therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Mindfulness exercises are popular with the general public because they are easy to learn and quick to do, compared with a long wait for other forms of psychotherapy (e.g. CBT).

The published research covers a huge range of health problems and we have featured blogs on topics including anxiety, depression, substance misuse, psychosis, stress, binging and weight loss and the mental health of breast cancer patients.

Overall it seems that the uptake of mindfulness as an intervention and the popularity of this approach amongst service users and health professionals is some way ahead of the evidence. As is often the case, people are not waiting for high quality reliable studies before they start to practice an intervention which is accessible and (seemingly) safe.

Our Mindfulness Blogs

Should we be offering mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to all patients with residual depressive symptoms?

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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group training approach that aims to prevent relapse and recurrence of depression. It combines mindfulness techniques with cognitive therapy and research shows that it is effective at reducing depressive symptoms as well as preventing relapse. The NICE depression guideline recommends that MBCT is offered to people who have experienced [read the full story…]

ACT training reduces staff stress but further research needed

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT – pronounced as the word rather than the initials) is based on the notion that it is important to accept what is out of your personal control but commit to action to improve and enrich your life. ACT is an approach which sets out to teach psychological skills to deal [read the full story…]

Mindfulness-based stress reduction programmes help reduce anxiety, depression and stress

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Mindfulness has become a popular self-management technique to relieve stress and cope with busy day-to-day lifestyles. This review defines mindfulness as the ability to “non-judgementally observe sensations, thoughts, emotions and the environment, while encouraging openness, curiosity and acceptance”. It looks specifically at a technique called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programmes, which is a training programme [read the full story…]

Mindfulness based psychotherapy can be adapted for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues or challenging behaviour

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Mindfulness as described in modern psychology relates to a way of people bringing complete attention to their present experience and involves responding to that experience with a non-judgmental attitude.The authors of this study wanted to review the adaptation and application of mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic practices for people with learning disabilities. They provide an overview of the [read the full story…]

Mindfulness based programmes may be effective in producing lifestyle changes in adults with Prader-Willi syndrome

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People with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) often have excessive appetite and a decreased calorific requirement owing to low energy expenditure levels. This very small study involved three people with PWS who took part in a long-term, multicomponent mindfulness-based health wellness programme aimed at reducing levels of obesity helping them to change their lifestyles. The components of [read the full story…]

Mindfulness may combat staff burnout

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Mindfulness in modern psychology relates to bringing complete attention to the present experience, often involving a non-judgmental attitude to that experience. The authors in this study wanted to look at whether a new measure of staff values in learning disability services could help to better understand the potential effectiveness of mindfulness in the well being [read the full story…]