Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

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Exploring the Efficacy of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders “He might have been encased in a thick glass bubble, so separate did he feel from his three dining companions. It was a sensation with which he was only too familiar, that of walking in a giant sphere of worry, enclosed by it, watching his own terrors roll by, obscuring the outside world.” --J.K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy Background Information In the United States today, an estimated 40 million adults, nearly 20 percent of the adult population, suffer from an anxiety disorder (Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2014). The economic burden of anxiety disorders is equally as staggering, as those afflicted are three to…show more content…
According to Sipe and Eisendrath, the primary difference between MBCT and CBT is that MBCT is characterized by promoting an enhanced awareness of the individual’s relationship to thoughts and feelings [rather than changing specific thought content as is learned in CBT] (2012). In MBCT, patients are encouraged to “notice and allow thoughts and feelings without fixing, changing or avoiding,” while in CBT, patients are taught to “test and challenge dysfunctional beliefs and invent new interpretations” (Sipe & Eisendrath, 2012). It has therefore been postulated that the metacognitive awareness patients learn to attain in MBCT makes them better equipped to process distressing cognitions and therefore less vulnerable to relapse [than with CBT] (Sipe & Eisendrath,…show more content…
J., Borras, X., Munoz-Moreno, J. A., Miranda, C. … Fumaz, C. R., (2013). Effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on the quality of life, emotional status, and CDR cell count of patients aging with HIV infection. AIDS Behavior, 18: 676-685. doi 10.1007/s10461-013-0612-z | To examine the effects of a MBCT program onquality of life (QOL), emotional status, and immune status in HIV+ individuals. | n=40 (20 men, 20 women) HIV+ adults, mean age 48. Inclusion criteria was diagnosis prior to 1996 and on >= 5 yrs continuous ART. Exclusion criteria were concomitant psychiatric disorder (bipolar, psychotic, and/or epilepsy) or receiving any other psychotherapeutic intervention. Setting was a university hospital in Barcelona Spain. Subjects were randomized to an MBCT intervention grp (n=20) or a control grp (n=20) which received only routine f/u and no intervention. | RCT. Baseline data, end of treatment, and 3 month follow up info obtained included CD4 count, viral load, adherence info on cART, healthy diet, and smoking. Also, QOL, perceived stress, anxiety, and depression scales were measured at all three points. Tx grp participated in eight consecutive 2 ½ hr MBCT group sessions, which included meditation, yoga, and cognitive exercises including body scan, sitting meditation, and mindful stretching and movements. They were encouraged to practice a minimum of 45 min/day and 6 days/week. Internal consistency, external validity, and

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