Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is designed to help people who suffer repeated bouts of depression and chronic unhappiness. It combines the ideas of cognitive therapy with meditative practices and attitudes based on the cultivation of mindfulness. The heart of this work lies in becoming acquainted with the modes of mind that often characterize mood disorders while simultaneously learning to develop a new relationship to them.
The goals of this introduction to MBCT:
After this class…
- Grasp what purpose mindfulness-based cognitive therapy has and how it is used as a treatment tool, and discover how it can enable you to tackle and live with problems, struggles and challenges.
- Know the importance of experience and of being in the present moment as central aspects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.
- Understand yourself and the problems you face in your life today, and get motivated to make a real change for the better.
- Learn how to use mindfulness-based cognitive therapy to let go of pointless ruminative thinking and to help you focus on now.
- See the benefits of regular mindfulness-based cognitive therapy practice, and prepare yourself for and successfully personalise an eight-week voyage into mindfulness to suit you.
Collard, Patrizia. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy For Dummies. Wiley. Kindle Edition.
Someone who has never worried, faced challenges, suffered pain or struggled with life has never really experienced life (Samsara). Everyone, from any financial status or social position, experiences difficulties, simply as a part of being alive. So don’t worry – you’re not alone! So then, the issue isn’t to try and avoid or run away from problems (that’s futile), but to find a healthy way to solve them or accept them, without adding to your original suffering.
I believe that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a great technique for doing just that, because it has worked for me and my clients, and because the research proves that mindfulness can convey a sense of meaning and purpose to life, based on the understanding that everything in life is interconnected.
In this class, I will introduce you to the basic concept of MBCT, how it works and how you can use it to improve your life and wellbeing. I will describe two central aspects of MBCT that crop up throughout this master class: the importance of experience and of trying to be in the present moment. I also provide a brief taster of some of the useful skills you can pick up as you practice the meditations and exercises in this book.
Although the term may seem a bit forbidding at first glance, MBCT isn’t something reserved for academic experts or an elite group of super-dedicated Eastern monks. Quite the reverse: MBCT is a practice for you to use in your own way and integrate into your personal life to help combat your personal problems. Whatever your background, culture, religion, experience, age, and so on, MBCT can work for you. After all, if suffering is a universal fact of being human, the world needs a universal approach to dealing with it.