Have you ever been in a depressive rut and have no idea why? Sometimes it feels like episodes of depression and anxiety can show up at any time, and they certainly can. However, in some cases, we may be falling victim to negative, downward-spiraling thoughts we don’t even notice.

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We are all more complex than we might think. Most of our thoughts go unnoticed but still affect our daily lives. 

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Practicing mindfulness can help us better understand our thoughts and emotions.

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Combining Mindfulness Practices With CBT

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Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a combination of cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness training, and grounding techniques. 

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MBCT works by increasing your awareness of your emotions, thoughts, and behavior. From there, you’re better able to break free from negative thoughts and emotions.

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By cultivating mindfulness, you’re better able to recognize thought patterns that are causing you to act out or experience negative emotions.  

Why Mindfulness Matters

Mindfulness and grounding training is helpful to nearly everyone, and especially those who suffer from depression and anxiety. These practices turn your attention from what is bad to what is real. 

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When used as a daily practice, mindfulness will allow you to look inside yourself and better understand your thoughts and feelings. It can also turn your attention to what is around you so that you can better understand how your environment impacts your behavior and how your behavior affects others.

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At the end of the day, mindfulness is a practice that will give you a better understanding of yourself and the world around you. When you have a realistic view of yourself and your environment, you’re better able to improve yourself where you are able.

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MBCT works by increasing your awareness of your emotions, thoughts, and behavior.

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What Happens During MBCT

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MBCT programs look different from typical therapy sessions. Instead of having one-on-one sessions with a therapist, you’ll attend a weekly group therapy session for cognitive therapy and to also learn mindfulness techniques and meditation.

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After each session, you’ll be assigned “homework” to practice those mindfulness techniques. You’ll take note of how you’re feeling and talk about it with the group when you meet again.

Techniques Used in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy 

A widely used practice you’ll likely learn is the three-minute breathing space. It’s an easy-to-apply meditative practice that can be slotted into a daily routine. Anyone can do it while cleaning, cooking, eating, or really whenever you’re on autopilot.

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The three-minute-breathing space and other MBCT practices teach people to focus on introspection. While practicing these techniques, people will think about what they are experiencing at that moment, and not how they have felt some other time.

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These techniques can include:

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• Yoga: Slowly stretching through yoga poses and focusing on breathing is a great way for you to become more aware of your body and mind. Yoga is also a physical exercise, which many find helpful for a mood boost.
• Body Scanning: This form of meditation can bring a higher level of awareness of your body. While sitting or lying down, you’ll take deep breaths through your nose and out your mouth. During the exhale, you’ll be asked to think about how your body feels in each spot. Start from the toes and work your way up to your forehead.
• Mindful Stretching: This technique is similar to yoga, but it uses more simple stretching techniques. While stretching and taking slow, deep breaths, you’ll focus on how your body feels. This helps with bodily mindfulness as you feel yourself change and stretch as you go.

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Meditation

Meditation may be the most used mindfulness practice. You don’t need special equipment or fancy lighting to reach a deep meditative state. Simply taking the time to slow down, breathe, and think about the physical sensation of living in the present moment can have a profound effect on your mindfulness.

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Sound baths are a kind of meditation that uses frequencies from Tibetan singing bowls, gongs, and tuning forks to create relaxing sounds that help guide people into a peaceful meditative state. 

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When practicing MBCT, you’ll be able to better understand how your mental health is unique to you.

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What MBCT Can Treat

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MBCT has several applications. It’s been proven useful for multiple conditions and situations. Here are some of the conditions that can be treated with MBCT:

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• Chronic Depression
• Chronic Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Stress

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MBCT is useful when treating the mind and body. It can be used adjunctly to help physical disorders as well. This includes:

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• Epilepsy
• Chronic Pain
• Fibromyalgia

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It's also often used in addiction treatment as a valuable tool to prevent relapse.

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MBCT and Depression

MBCT is very helpful for many mental health conditions, but it was created to treat depressive symptoms. 

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MBCT is built on three goals of understanding: 

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• Understand what depression is to you: Everyone has different experiences with mental health. When practicing MBCT, you’ll be able to better understand how your mental health is unique to you.
• Understand what makes you vulnerable: Downward mood spirals and depression relapses are common for a lot of people. MBCT helps you understand why you get stuck in them so that it’s easier to get out.
• Connect negative thoughts to downward spirals: Downward spirals tend to begin with negative thoughts. When you have a better understanding of your whole self, you’ll be able to identify negative thoughts that create downward spirals

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MBCT vs. CBT and DBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and MBCT are all related and share techniques. They each address the thought-emotion connection and all three are capable of treating depression, anxiety, and addiction. 

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All three are goal-oriented, but the goals of each are generally different.

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• CBT: Find positive thoughts and emotions to affect thoughts, emotions, and behavior
• DBT: Improve emotional regulation and interpersonal effectiveness
• MBCT: Use introspective mindfulness to change thoughts

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If you’re familiar with DBT, you’re aware it’s also a mindfulness-based therapy. The difference is where the mindfulness is directed. DBT is an outward-facing therapy that focuses on emotional regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. On the other hand, MBCT is an inward-facing therapy that focuses on mindfulness-based stress reduction as well as change of thoughts.

MBCT at Sequoia

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Sequoia Behavioral Health takes a holistic, integrative, individualized approach to treatment. We offer in-house treatment programs for mental health, addiction, and dual diagnosis. 

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MBCT is an approach that teaches you how to help yourself whenever you’re in a depression spiral. If you feel you’re lacking the tools to live your life the way you want to, then contact us to see how we can help. 

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