Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with contemplative wisdom practices grounded in Buddhist psychology. Originally developed to prevent relapse in people with recurrent depression, MBCT and its adaptations have been shown to not only reduce relapse of mood disorders, but also reduce current symptoms and /or protect from relapse in conditions such as PTSD, OCD, Panic, GAD, other anxiety, & related disorders such as substance abuse (Hoffman et al., 2017; Garland et al., 2019; King et al., 2013; Molnar, 2014).
Broadly speaking, MBPs are of benefit for people with disorders marked by Neuroticism as described by Barlow et al., (2021) and associated experiential avoidance (Hayes-Skelton et al., 2020). Through effective integration of scientific findings and theory about emotional processing and the cognitive, physical, and overt and covert behavioral elements of emotion, MBCT has been shown to be a trans-therapeutic intervention of benefit to those with a range of transdiagnostic disorders. This is in part through increasing metacognition (aka "decentering" , "deidentification", etc.) and changing how one relates habitually with unwanted internal experiences in mind and body (Davis et al., 2024; Moore, Lau et al., 2022). Moreover, the mindfulness skills developed in MBCT are foundational for the range of compassion-based interventions that also have transtherapeutic benefits for those with emotional disorders (Kirby et al., 2017).
The path for competently and ethically teaching MBCT to those with emotional disorders includes, but is not limited to, participation in the traditional 8-session MBCT program in the role of "participant-observer". The participant-observer model of competence development supports professionals in implementing MBCT with the population they already have expertise serving. It also offers the opportunity to observe experienced professionals modelling and "embodying" (Griffith & Crane, 2021) implementation of the MBCT curriculum elements with people exhibiting symptoms the trainee practitioner wants to develop skills for treating.
In this workshop, developing clinician teachers will directly experience the MBCT treatment protocol in a mixed group with both professionals and non-professionals .
CE Learning Objectives
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the essential components of four formal mindfulness practices that adhere to evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) designed to teach participants to deconstruct emotion (pleasant or unpleasant) into mind, body, and behavior elements.
2. Describe two examples of covert (mental) or overt (observable) behaviors that reflect the “doing mode of mind” that arises when there is a discrepancy between one’s desired verses actual state.
3. Describe, in everyday language, one specific way that an unpleasant emotion state can contribute to the risk of recurrence of transdiagnostic emotional disorders with reference to state-dependent information processing.
4. Explain, with everyday language, the phenomenon of automatic thoughts (ATs), measured by the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ), being more readily retrieved during negative / & or depleted mood / emotion states.
5. Describe the concept of ruminative brooding and how it worsens mood and predicts onset, maintenance, and recurrence of transdiagnostic emotional disorders.
6. Describe the components of the responsive three-step "breathing space" practice and how it supports implementation and generalization of MBI skills in everyday life & compassionate responding in stressful situations.
7 . Describe how formal practices (e.g., the body scan) can be viewed as a behavioral experiment or micro-laboratory with the intention of discovering the impact of non-conceptual information processing of experience; disengagement of attention from stimuli increasing distress; and a broadening of the attentional field.
8. Describe MBI-adherent components of the formal sitting meditation practice and how they support awareness of habitual mental phenomena and one’s intra-personal relationship to feeling states.
9. Describe three of the nine “Foundational Attitudes” that are ways of relating with kindness and compassion to experience to support both formal and informal mindfulness practice implementation.
10. Describe how the pleasant event log functions to resource one to cope with stress while also supporting deconstruction of emotion states into their co-arising & interacting elements.
11. Describe how the nourishing and depleting events log supports implementation of behavioral activation and highlights factors associated with relapse prevention.
12. Describe, in everyday language, the physiological outcome of fighting or attempting to eliminate unwanted internal experiences and how it contrasts with allowing one’s unwanted experiences and relating with kindness to the self.
Suggested Reading
The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition 2nd Edition
Mindfulness-Based Interventions - Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC)
Baer, R., Crane, C., Miller, E., & Kuyken, W. (2019). Doing no harm in mindfulness-based programs: conceptual issues and empirical findings. Clinical psychology review, 71, 101-114.
Molnar (in press, chapter 21). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT): Curriculum, training, and clinician guide. Palgrave Handbook of Third-Wave Therapies.
Molnar, C. (2014). Generalized Anxiety Disorder. In L. Grossman & S. Walfish (Eds), Translating Research into Practice: A Desk Reference for Practicing Mental Health Professionals. New York: Springer Publishing.
About Presenters
Chris Molnar, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and clinical investigator, founded Mindful Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Psychological Wellness Center (META Center) in 2007. She completed post-doctoral fellowship training in traumatic stress, neuroscience, and psycho-physiology and is an expert in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, emotional, and stress-related conditions using evidence-based practices. She teaches both Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and has also developed adaptations for highly distressed clients, using Relational Mindfulness Practices (RBPs), to meet the needs of people in both individual and group therapy settings. At META Center, she offers integrative interventions grounded in findings about the brain, emotion, and learning to facilitate mental and behavioral habit change, even in the face of severe distress. Before founding META Center, she served as a clinical investigator and therapist supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and other agencies. She is also on the editorial board of Behavior Therapy and serves the public in many ways, through professional presentations, workshops, publications, and affiliations.
Richard W. Sears, PsyD, PhD, MBA is a licensed psychologist and is board certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP). He is an adjunct full professor for University of Cincinnati Psychology, and full professor (volunteer) of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
He runs an online private psychology and consulting practice near Cincinnati, with Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Psychology (APIT). He is a past president of the board of the Cincinnati Academy of Professional Psychology. He was full-time core faculty in Union Institute & University’s Doctor of Clinical Psychology program for nine years. He is also a psychologist contractor with the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, where he conducted research on Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for PTSD with Dr. Kate Chard. He has been teaching MBCT courses for more than 20 years, and presents workshops on mindfulness, ACT, psychotherapy, Zen, martial arts, and other topics.
Dr. Sears received PsyD and MBA degrees from Wright State University. He also received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from Buddha Dharma University, where he was a member of the board of regents. He is author of more than a dozen books, including ACT with Anxiety and Mindfulness: Living Through Challenges and Enriching Your Life in this Moment.
More at https://psych-insights.com/
Target Audience
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure. The instructional level of this presentation is BEGINNER.
Note: This workshop does not require attendees to have a formal mindfulness practice.
Continuing Education
- Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
- Philadelphia Behavior Therapy Association is also approved by the NY State Education Department to offer psychology continuing education
- This program provides ten (12) CE credits. There is no additional cost, above registration fee, for CE credits for qualified licensed practitioners.
- PBTA is also an authorized provider of CE credits for Professional Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Clinical Social Workers licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. Non-Psychologist Licensees outside of PA & practitioners outside of the USA please confirm eligibility with your specific licensing board.
- APA guidelines do not permit PBTA to issue partial CE credits.
- To receive a CE certificate, licensed practitioners seeking CE cannot miss more than two of the eight MBCT sessions comprised of mixed professionals and non-professionals and can make-up missed sessions with alternate CE trainings focused on mindfulness and compassion which sponsored through PBTA. Inquire directly with Dr. Molnar via chris@molnarpsychology.com about making-up missed time if you will miss sessions
