Mindfulness Based Therapies

Cultivating Mindfulness to Develop Compassion and Build Emotional Resilience

Mindfulness is a mental state in which you focus on the present without judging or being distracted. Mindfulness has been proven to help reduce the symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress and burnout.

What is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness is defined in so many different ways. Here’s one of many definitions:

Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to things as they are [1].

Mindfulness is a simple form of meditation, little known in the West until recently. A typical meditation consists of focusing your full attention on your breath as it flows in and out of your body. Focusing on your breath allows you to observe your thoughts and let go of struggling with them.

Mindfulness can help you increase your ability to cope with stress, anxiety and the challenges of everyday life and be fully present and alive in this moment. Over time, mindfulness can bring about long-term changes in mood and levels of happiness and wellbeing.

Mindfulness in Psychology

Psychologists use mindfulness in several therapeutic interventions, including Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and it can also be incorporated as a useful skill into other treatment approaches, such as CBT Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction or MBSR

MBSR is an eight-week evidence-based program developed by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in the 1970s. MBSR’s intensive mindfulness training can help people deal with stress, anxiety, depression and pain [2]. It uses meditation, body awareness and yoga combined with exploring patterns of behaviour, feeling, thinking and action.

Over the past few decades, Jon Kabat-Zinn has been an exponent of bringing the ancient Buddhist mindfulness meditation practice into the mainstream of medicine, health care, and science [2] [3].

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy or MBCT

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, or MBCT, combines CBT Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy with mindfulness-based practices to help individuals manage their thoughts and emotions [4]. Although MBCT was initially developed to address recurrent depression, it can be used to reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety.