Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
(MBCT) - An 8-Week Group

Background:
Once you have had depression, there is an increased risk that you will become depressed again.

What causes depression to return?
If you have been depressed, and then recovered, you may have noticed that a small amount of sadness or disappointment can trigger a larger amount of negative thoughts (e.g. 'I am a failure', 'I am weak', 'I am worthless'). The small amount of negative mood can also trigger bodily sensations of weakness or fatigue or unexplained pain.

Both the negative thoughts and fatigue often seem out of proportion to the situation. You may find yourself ruminating: 'what has gone wrong?', 'why is this happening to me?', 'when will it all end?'

So what is going on here?
During an episode of depression, negative mood occurs alongside negative thinking and bodily sensations of sluggishness and fatigue. When the episode has passed, and the mood has returned to normal, the negative thinking and bodily sensations may disappear as well. However, they have not really gone. The mind has learned an association between the various symptoms. This means that when the negative mood happens again (for any reason) it will tend to trigger all the other symptoms. When this happens, the old habits of negative thinking will start up again, negative thinking gets into the same rut, and a full-blown episode of depression may be the result.

The discovery that, even when you feel well, the link between negative moods and negative thoughts remains ready to be re-activated is of enormous importance. It means that sustaining recovery from depression depends on learning how to keep mild states of depression from spiralling out of control.

Can MBCT help me?
If you answer 'yes' to any of these questions, you may find MBCT helpful.

1. Have you suffered from 3 or more episodes of depression in the past? If 'YES', have you recovered enough to consider taking steps to prevent further episodes?
2. Do you find that, when you become sad, you tend to ruminate about things?
3. Does your thinking rapidly become negative in response to small downward shifts in your moods?
4. When your mood goes down, do you find yourself thinking about why you always react this way?
5. When your mood goes down, do you find yourself thinking about how it will all end?
6. When your mood goes down, do you find yourself trying to analyse everything?

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Research has found that a new combination of meditation and cognitive therapy can help. In 8 weekly classes, and by practicing at home during the week, you learn the practice of mindfulness meditation and how to use it to disentangle yourself from depressed mood and thinking.

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy includes simple breathing meditations and yoga stretches to help you become more aware of the present moment, including getting in touch with moment-to-moment changes in the mind and the body. It also includes basic education about depression, and several exercises from cognitive therapy that show the links between thinking and feeling and how best to look after yourself when depression threatens to overwhelm you.

How does it work?
MBCT helps you to see more clearly the patterns of your mind; and to learn how to recognise when your mood is beginning to go down. It helps break the link between negative mood and the negative thinking that might normally have escalated into a relapse. You develop the capacity to mindfully disengage from distressing mood, and negative thoughts. You find that you can learn to stay in touch with the present moment, without having to ruminate about the past, or agonise about the future.

The mindfulness approach is meant to enhance, not compete with, whatever type of treatment you may be receiving for depression, whether antidepressants or psychotherapy. The aim is to continue the envelope of care into those periods when you are feeling well, and beyond.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy differs from mindfulness meditation as it is normally taught by the way it integrates mindfulness practice into a psychological model of depression and depressive relapse, and the way it uses specific exercises to bring mindfulness (and concentration) to bear in stressful situations.

For further information or to set up a initial appointment, please contact Garri Wiest on 01296 660231 or Beth Harris on 01923 291656 or garriwiest@aol.com