Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a form of psychotherapy that uses mindfulness techniques in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to prevent depression-relapse. MBCT was developed by Philip Barnard and John D. Teasdale, and Zindel Segal, building on Jon Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).

CBT-inspired methods are used in MBCT, such as psycho-education, educating the participant about depression and the role that cognition plays within it. Like CBT, MBCT is build on the etiological theory that depression-relapse may occur when individuals, who have had a depression, become distressed, and return to automatic cognitive processes that can trigger a depressive episode. The goal of MBCT is to interrupt these automatic processes, and teach the participants to focus less on reacting to incoming stimuli, and instead accepting and observing them without judgment.

Like MBSR, the mindfulness practice encourages the participant to notice when automatic processes are occurring, and to respond less reactive and more reflective. MBCT encourages "decentering," becoming aware of all incoming thoughts and feelings and accepting them, but not attaching or reacting to them. This process aims to aid an individual in disengaging from self-criticism, rumination, and dysphoric moods that can arise when reacting to negative thinking patterns.

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