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ABOUT MINDFULNESS & MBCT

Mindfulness

Mindfulness means having a sense of knowing what is happening in the external and internal world as it is happening. Mindfulness is cultivated by the practice of meditation in which people learn to pay attention in each moment.  It is not about clearing the mind, but rather coming to see the mind’s patterns. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as "paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally".  

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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is the integration of Cognitive Therapy for depression with mindfulness approaches. The MBCT training helps to free us from the grip of two processes that lie at the route of depression and other emotional problems:

1. the tendency to ruminate, overthink or worry too much about things

coupled with

2. a tendency to avoid, suppress or push away other things.

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The 8 Week MBCT Course

The original 8 week Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) course was developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale. The MBCT course  was originally designed specifically to help people who suffer repeated bouts of depression. Research has also shown MBCT to be useful helping people cope with anxiety and emotional distress, but can also be used by anyone to help them live life to the full.

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 MBCT for Life (MBCT-L) 

More recently, the original MBCT for depression course has been developed to be accessible to all. It now explores different ways to manage what is painful and difficult but also to cultivate qualities such as compassion and equanimity. The new MBCT for life course offers a different way of living that supports people to work with challenges, including recurring patterns of thought and behaviour that create suffering, but also to savour life and to flourish. 

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Finding Peace in a Frantic World 

This course is a development of the 8 week MBCT course, and is based on the best-selling book by Mark Williams and Danny Penman. The course provides a practical and accessible introduction to mindfulness, with  8 weekly sessions of 60-75 minutes, and home practices of 10-20 minutes. It includes practices and exercises for working with stress and for increasing wellbeing and resilience.

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Link to MBCT Course Outlines 

 

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