As a journalist, Stacy Lu decided to cover a topic that has developed a theory that the act of mindfulness could help prevent the mental illness of depression from occurring or becoming worse. This is an important subject because depression is known as one of the most common illnesses, and it has also been known to weaken the health of the individual. Many people suffer from the illness of depression, and the medicine they are usually prescribed is not effective enough at certain times. Therefore, people have looked into other options that could help combat this issue. This have brought about the idea of mindfulness. So what exactly is this method? Stacy Lu describes it as focusing on oneself, and being present in that moment. That the person …show more content…
The entire process consists of major elements such as a person 's thoughts, behavior, emotions, physical body, and their surrounding environment. All of these elements could profoundly impact the type of problem that is causing the disorder of depression, however, the cognitive based therapy greatly focuses on the thoughts of the individual. As noted before, a common procedure known as MBCT developed by Segal, Williams, and Teasdale worked off of these elements. The entire procedure is around eight weeks long, and focused on working at a group level. It consists of exercises that bring out a mindfulness of the person by having them involved in group therapies such as yoga, and homework. Their method found that they were able to help towards preventing depression from recurring, and they were able to drastically make positive changes comparable to medication effects. This type of method is similar a cognitive based theory, but instead incorporates all of the major elements. Additionally, Beck 's therapy of depression is similar to this method, but focuses more on the cognitive (thoughts) of the individual. His therapy works towards addressing the individual 's thought process, and looks to change the way the individual is thinking about their …show more content…
These therapies all have one goal, to better the patient. To assess whether or not a therapy is effective in treating a psychological disorder, they can use the client 's perceptions, the clinicians’ perceptions, and the outcome research. The clients and clinicians are able to note how they feel about the progress. By using the outcome research, they can see, and compare, how a patient with treatment and without treatment have changed or improved. According to the textbook, it is said that the average therapy client ends up better off than 80% of the untreated individuals. The therapies used take much time, but in the long run, they are shown as an effective approach when battling the disorder (Myers,
...d that in four treatment trials, cognitive therapy for depression is superior to pharmacotherapy in reducing relapse, or the need for further treatment. (Blackburn, Eunson & Bishop, 1986; Simons, Murphy, Levine & Wetzel, 1986; Evans, Hollon, De Rubeis, Piasecki, Grove, Garves & Tuason, 1992; Shea, Elkin, Imber, Sotsky, Watkins, Collins, Pilkonis, Leber, Krupnick, Dolan & Parloff, 1992). Therefore, it can be seen that many qualitative and quantitative reviews now conclude that cognitive therapy effectively treats depression, or is at least comparable, if not, superior to medication treatment, and may have lower rates of relapse in comparison to medication treatments. As a result, the implications of the cognitive theory and the treatment used to process Beck’s theory, cognitive therapy, has been a successful treatment in regarding depression, and many other diseases.
Mindfulness meditation is a growth of person`s perception at the present time and some people think is a unique way to overcome anxiety and discover greater wisdom in our minds. A person who practices this meditation tries to get rid of any unwanted thoughts, concentrate on present ones, focus on attention and breathing. Some contemporary psychotherapists suggest that we can train our mind by practicing mindfulness meditation. Often almost all people catch themselves on thoughts that transfers from the present to the past and future. This is called mind wandering. This can be very distracting when a person tries to focus on certain task. Naturally, people who experience less mind wandering demonstrated greater mindfulness, and previous studies showed that practicing mindfulness meditation even for eight minutes can increase and mind wandering will decrease (Hafenbrack, 2013).
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, goal-oriented therapy treatment that takes a hands-on, approach to problem-solving. The core foundation of this treatment approach, as pioneered by Beck (1970) and Ellis (1962),
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of mental health counseling. It can be used with an individual or in group work. It is an effective treatment that mental health professions use for depression. CBT has been shown to be as beneficial as antidepressant medications for some individuals with depression and may be highly effective in inhibiting relapse of symptoms. Clients receiving CBT for depression are inspired to schedule positive activities into their day-to-day activities in order to increase the amount of pleasure they experience. Additionally, depressed clients learn how to reorganize their negative thought patterns to view their environment in a less prejudiced way. Studies indicate that clients who be given CBT in addition to treatment with medication have better results than clients who do not receive CBT as an additional treatment (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2012).
In it's simplest form, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (or CBT as it will be referred to from here on out), refers to the approach of changing dysfunctional behaviors and thoughts to realistic and healthy ones. CBT encompasses several types of therapy focusing on the impact of an individual's thinking as it relates to expressed behaviors. Such models include rational emotive therapy (RET), rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), behavior therapy (BT), Rational Behavior Therapy (RBT), Schema Focused Therapy, Cognitive therapy (CT). Most recently a few other variations have been linked to CBT such as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) (Harrington and Pickles, 2009). The main aspect that all of these branches of therapy share, is that our thoughts relate to our external behaviors. External events and individuals do not cause the negative thoughts or feelings, but, instead the perception of events and situations is the root cause (National Association of Cognitive Behavioral Therapists, 2010).
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of treatment that focuses on examining the relationships between thoughts, feelings and behaviors (NAMI, 2012). It is designed to modify the individual’s normative dysfunctional thoughts. The basic cognitive technique consists of delineating the individual's specific misconceptions, distortions, and maladaptive assumptions, and of testing their validity and reasonableness (Beck, 1970). By exploring thought patterns that lead to maladaptive behaviors and actions and the beliefs that direct these thoughts, people with mental illness can alter their thought process to improve coping. CBT is different from oth...
Mindfulness is an ideal that has been present for thousands of years (positivepsychologyprogram.com). It has roots in almost every major religion: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and most renown, Buddhism and Hinduism (positivepsychologyprogram.com). Psychology Today defines mindfulness as “a state of active, open attention on the present.” Dr. Shauna Shapiro during a TEDx Talk defines mindfulness as “intentionally paying attention with kindness” (Shapiro, S., 2017). Mindfulness has many principles involved with it, but the short version is to be aware. It is to be aware of the present moment deliberately. Jon Kabat-Zinn, considered the father of the western movement for mindfulness by some, defines mindfulness as, “Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; On purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Bodhipaksa, 2007). We, as humans, get caught up in the business of life; so, we need to stay oriented to the present. Another way to describe this is “acting with awareness rather than on ‘automatic autopilot’” (Caldwell, et al, 2010). Mindfulness is non-judgmental about life. Mindfulness is to not be over-reactive by what’s going on around us (mindful.org). Mindfulness is being non-reactive to your environment. There are many things that stem from this thinking,
According to Segal et al (2002), the mechanism of change in MBCT is relating differently to ones thoughts, which is the exact approach I would take for a client with depression. The text talks about decentering , which is used to allow clients to become aware of their thoughts, emotions, and sensations (Segal et al, 200). Decentering helps clients avoid negative thoughts, which will help prevent depression in the future. I think that MBCT is a great therapy to use for depression because it allows the client to think in a broader perspective without thinking in terms of bad or good or wrong or
Counselors have a wide array of techniques they use to treat their clients. Not one form of counseling works for every individual seeking help. Over the past decades, mindfulness has piqued the interest of many counselors and researchers in the area of cognitive psychology. Its use in counseling has grown and is a part of many counseling processes. Mindfulness has helped to make new strides in the area of counseling and treating patients with a handful of different disorders and issues. Mindfulness is now a widely used practice, and research is still being conducted today to find new ways it can continue to benefit society.
Celebrated by a 25th Anniversary Edition publication in 2014, Mindfulness by Ellen J. Langer explores the ideas of mindlessness and mindfulness and their implications on health and wellbeing. Langer is a very accomplished psychologist having received her BA from New York University and her PhD from Yale. She has been a Professor of Psychology at Harvard since 1977. A few of her achievements include the NYU Alumni Achievement Award, the Arthur Staats Award for Unifying Psychology, and the World Congress Award. Langer has authored 11 books and over 200 research articles on topics such as perceived control, successful aging, and decision-making. However, all of her research has a focus on mindfulness.
Initially developed by Aaron Beck in the 1960s, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) also referred to as Cognitive Therapy (CT) focuses on understanding a client’s behaviors and feelings through focusing on their underlying cognitions and thoughts (Weinrach, 1988, p.159). Aaron Beck believed that our thoughts impact our feelings and in order to change negative feelings, we must identify and modify our dysfunctional thoughts (Weinrach,1988). A client’s symptoms or dysfunctional behaviors do not take place due to a situation or their feelings. Instead, Beck explains that between the situations or events and the emotional responses and behaviors, a conscious stream of thoughts take place (Craske, 2010). CBT explains human nature with an anti-deterministic
Mindfulness involves accepting our thoughts and emotions without judgment, and without believing that there is a right or wrong way to feel in a given situation. Our thoughts and emotions are not labeled as good or bad. They are observed as simply happening until they pass. While practicing mindfulness one does not rehash the past or imagine the future. Attention is focused on what is being sensed in the present moment. There is a sense of self apart from things. Mindfulness is moment to moment awareness and purposefully placing attention on things that we wouldn’t normally give a second thought to. Mindfulness can be thought of as a way of being, rather than an activity. It is the awareness of wondering thoughts and purposefully directing them back, rather than letting them
To begin with, mindfulness is when someone can pay attention to the present moment “without being devoted to different points of view” (Martin, 1997). Along with staying focused on the present moment, mindfulness is when the particular person does not judge the current experience as the person tries to comprehend the present situation. Mindfulness makes a person reflect on one’s self by not only figuring out one’s thoughts, but also the feelings that go along with it. The complex nature of mindfulness demonstrates that it has multiple purposes that cultivates a person into realizing the potential of the brain (Davis & Hayes,
Cognitive behavioral therapy commonly known as CBT is a systematic process by which we learn to change our negative thoughts into more positive ones. CBT is a combination of two types of therapy, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral Therapy. Cognition is our thoughts, so cognitive behavioral therapy combines working with our thought process and changing our behavior at the same time. Cognitive behavioral therapists believe that our behavior and our feelings are influenced by the way we think; also our mood is affected by our behavior and thought process. So CBT tries to tackle our thoughts, feelings and behavior. Scientific research has shown that cognitive behavioral therapy is affective for a wide range of mental health problems. The purpose is to bring positive change by alleviating emotional distress such as depression. CBT starts by breaking down your problems into smaller components, often trying to identify particular problematic thoughts or behavior. Once these problems are broken down it is then suggested a straightforward plan in which the patient and therapist can intervene to promote recovery.
Hence, what is mindfulness meditation? Mindfulness refers to the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present with no judgment. Whereby, meditation is a spiritual and introspective practice involving components of both analysis and concentration as a part of a process of becoming aware of the present surroundings and the mind (Gordon et al., 2013). Meditation can also be defined as the practice of revolving your attention to a single phenomenon, which include focusing on the breathing,