Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, First Edition: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse

This text presents an innovative eight-session programme designed to prevent relapse in clients who have recovered from depression. Integrating cognitive therapy principles and practice into a mindfulness framework, the approach has been proven effective in controlled clinical research. The authors demonstrate how to teach clients to make a simple but radical shift in their relationship to the thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations that contribute to depressive relapse. This shift can help prevent sadness from spiralling out of control.;The book describes the theoretical basis for the approach and details each of the structured group sessions. It offers practical information on how to duplicate the programme, including session curricula, samples of participant handouts and numerous case examples and session transcripts.

Table of Contents:
Kabat-Zinn, Foreword. Part I: The Challenge of Depression. Introduction. Depression: The Scope of the Problem. Cognition, Mood, and the Nature of Depressive Relapse. Developing Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Models in Mind. Part II: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. The Eight-session Program: How and Why. Automatic Pilot: Session 1. Dealing with Barriers: Session 2. Mindfulness of the Breath: Session 3. Staying Present: Session 4. Allowing/Letting Be: Session 5. Thoughts are Not Facts: Session 6. How Can I Best Take Care of Myself?: Session 7. Using What Has Been Learned to Deal with Future Moods: Session 8. Part III: Evaluation and Dissemination. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Trial. Going Further: Further Reading, Websites, and Addresses. Epilogue.

About the Author :
Zindel V. Segal, PhD, is Head of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health and Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, where he is also Head of the Psychotherapy Program. Dr. Segal is a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. His publications include [i]Cognitive Vulnerability to Depression[/i], coauthored with Rick E. Ingram and Jeanne Miranda. J. Mark G. Williams, DPhil, is Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Wales, Bangor, where he has also served since 1997 as Director of the University's Institute of Medical and Social Care Research. Widely published, he is a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. John D. Teasdale, PhD, holds a Special Scientific Appointment at the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England. He is a fellow of the British Academy, a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, a founding fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and a recipient of the American Psychological Association's Distinguished Scientist Award (Division 12).

Review :
'A very valuable resource for clinicians and for treatment development researchers. The guidelines for teaching mindfulness are very solid. The transcripts of therapist-client interactions, verbatim instructions to give clients, sample handouts and forms, and clinical wisdom on how to teach skillfully are all superb....A wonderful initiation for the therapist who has not been introduced to mindfulness, and a book that will enhance the skills of the experienced practitioner.' - Marsha M. Linehan, PhD 'This book offers an elegant and innovative method for breaking the cycle of recurrent depressive episodes, one that frees patients from the tyranny of relapses. The integration of mindfulness and cognitive therapy should become part of the basic training of every professional who treats people with depression, from psychiatric nurses and psychiatrists to clinical and counseling psychologists.' - Daniel Goleman, PhD 'Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy offers a provocative, sophisticated combination of Eastern and Western approaches to psychological well-being. In an accessible, easy-to-read manner, the authors, leaders in the field of cognitive therapy, offer an account of the transformation in their thinking that led to the incorporation of a mindfulness-based orientation to psychological distress. The combination of a mindfulness orientation and cognitive approaches to change seems to provide a particularly useful framework for sustaining gains made in therapy. This new direction has promising implications for cognitive therapy of depression.' - Aaron T. Beck, MD