Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Mental Health Professionals—a Pilot Study

Florian A Ruths,Sonya J Frearson,Nicole De Zoysa,J Mark G Williams,James Walsh,Jane Hutton

doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0127-0

Abstract

We investigated the adherence of mental health professionals to a Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) programme as well as the impact of MBCT on mindful awareness and attention, psychological well-being and distress, state and trait anxiety, worry and satisfaction with life. The design comprised of a prospective uncontrolled intervention study with pre- and post-measurements of meditation adherence and measures of psychological well-being. Twenty-seven mental health professionals participated in an 8-week MBCT programme for relapse prevention of depression, modified for healthy individuals. Their homework, mindful awareness and attention (Mindful Awareness and Attention Scale), general psychological well-being (General Health Questionnaire), state and trait anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), satisfaction with life (Satisfaction with Life Scale), general psychopathology (Brief Symptom Inventory) as well as worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) were measured at week 1 and 8 during the intervention and at week 20 as follow-up. Twenty four of 27 (88 %) mental health professionals completed the course and were included in the analysis. Of these, 75 % (18 of 24) were female with a mean age of 36 years and a mean experience in cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) of 6 years. Sixty-three per cent (15 of 24) reported continued practice at 20-week follow-up. A statistically significant improvement of mindful awareness and psychological well-being, with significant reduction in worry, trait anxiety and general psychopathology, was observed in participants who continued some form of meditation practice during the follow-up period. The majority of mental health professionals adhered to the MBCT meditation practice, and the more they practised mindfulness meditation, the more they experienced an increase in mindful awareness and attention, general psychological well-being and a decrease in general psychopathology, trait anxiety and worry.

Highlights

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a manualised group skills training program developed to prevent relapse in major depression (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002)
MBCT is based on the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program originally developed by Kabat-Zinn (1990) and integrates elements of cognitive behavioural therapy for depression
Our aim was to investigate three questions: (1) do professionals maintain a meditation practice during and after attending an MBCT program; (2) is program attendance associated with increases in measures of psychological well-being and decreases in measures of distress; and (3) are positive outcomes associated with meditation practice?

Summary

Introduction

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a manualised group skills training program developed to prevent relapse in major depression (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002). Segal et al (2002) view a personal meditation practice as an essential requirement for MBCT They comment on the importance of modelling mindfulness through the instructor’s presence, as well as the content of the program. This raises issues regarding how to train MBCT instructors and whether personal meditation is a realistic and sustainable demand for health professionals. There is some evidence to suggest that mindfulness-based approaches may support the mental health of professionals as well as patients.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion