Mindfulness Based Therapy
Presence as a pathway to peace.
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy, or MBCT, is designed for people who suffer from repeated bouts of depression or chronic unhappiness. It combines the ideas of cognitive therapy with meditative practices and attitudes based on the cultivation of mindfulness.
What Does MBCT Help Treat?
Recent research has shown that people who have been clinically depressed three or more times in their life find that learning mindfulness-based skills help to considerably reduce their chances of depression returning.
If you can relate to any of the above issues, mindfulness-based therapy may be right for you. MBCT helps people separate themselves from their thoughts and moods, and teaches them how to recognize their sense of being. It also aims to give participants the necessary tools to combat depressive symptoms as they arise.
What Is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there's a "right" or "wrong" way to think or feel in a given moment.
When we practice mindfulness, our thoughts tune into what we're sensing in the present moment which can be of great benefit therapeutically. This practice helps one to develop beneficial qualities such as:
- Acceptance
- Attention
- Compassion
- Equanimity
- Presence
All of these qualities are important in the healing process. These qualities can also enrich and enliven our lives by creating more balance, kindness, and fulfillment.
Evidence indicates that mindfulness-based therapy may reduce the rate of depressive relapse by 50%.
Interested in mindfulness-based therapy?
Call us at (415) 326-6354 or schedule online.