Mindfulness
Developing the quality of Mindfulness means learning how to pay attention, how to become more aware of our thought process and how our mind gets distracted in all kinds of stories caused by the thoughts and fantasies. By practicing, we learn to live in the present moment without judgement, and at the same time we develop a sense of calmness which becomes more and more steady. Without training our mind tends to wander.
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy helps us to pay attention to our thoughts and feelings so we become more aware of them, less enmeshed in them, and better able to manage them. It helps to undo the vicious circle between the negative mood and thoughts. We learn how to develop the ability to allow and observe the anxious thoughts and sensations, without struggling and fighting against them.
Mindfulness interventions aim to teach us how to accept our thoughts without unhelpfully identifying with them.
We learn and discover to be aware in the present moment without having to worry about the past and the future. As a consequence, we learn skillfully and with more clarity of mind how to approach and face the present moment experience, to feel more satisfaction with regards to positive events which often times go unnoticed and unappreciated. We learn to face real or imagined difficulties more efficiently.
Clinical controlled trials have shown that Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy reduces 40 to 50% the probability of relapse in people who have suffered three or more episodes of depression. Thanks to the results of these trials, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy is recommended in the NICE Guidelines for severe and recurrent depression.
