Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that has been shown to reduce the risk of relapse for recurrent depression by nearly half and to be as effective as antidepressant medication. The UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended MBCT for people with recurrent depression since 2004 and in 2017 NHS England mandated it as a treatment that should be available in all primary care mental health services. It has also been shown effective for people dealing with anxiety and stress.

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MBCT was developed by the well-respected psychologists Segal, Teasdale and Williams. It is based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn which has been shown to be effective for people dealing with physical and emotional difficulties. It is also based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy.

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The course aims to assist you in taking better care of yourself and in getting the most out of living. It aims to deepen your self-knowledge and learning new ways to respond to your own thoughts and feelings and to develop skills to step back from them and see them for what they are – thoughts and feelings. With practice people also learn to respond more skillfully to situations rather than simply reacting automatically.

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What does the course involve?

The MBCT programme is a group intervention that lasts eight weeks. During those eight weeks, there is a weekly course, which lasts two hours. A day of mindfulness practice is offered between weeks 5-7 when participants have the opportunity to experience a whole day of practice to notice the effects of this. A trained mindfulness instructor, who teaches the meditation practices and supports the participants’ learning, runs each course and group discussions are an important part of this process. To get the most out of coming to the class requires some work on your part and each participant is required to undertake one-hour of home practice a day between classes. It requires a strong commitment to work on yourself through a gentle but rigorous daily discipline of meditation. Making the time commitment and the personal exploration involved can make the course seem stressful at times but it is also likely to be pleasurable and empowering as well.

Who is the course for?
The programme is known to benefit people with recurrent depression, anxiety and stress. It has also shown to benefit people who are interested in this approach who seek to increase their well-being and quality of life as well as to learn new ways to respond and stay true to their life values.

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Summary of the course
• The aim of the course is to learn new ways to handle our moods and emotions.
• It teaches us to take better care of ourselves so that we are able to live our lives in a fuller and healthier way.
• It promotes a way of being that helps us tackle life problems – physical, mental, social and emotional
• The focus of the mindfulness practice is to learn to be aware of the small changes in the physical sensations in your body; what is happening in the world around you (using your physical senses) and your thoughts, emotions and moods.
• The course programme encourages us to develop the skill of being aware of our experiences (good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant) from moment to moment -so that we can learn to respond more skillfully to situations rather than simply reacting automatically.
• Overall, the course is often helpful in dealing with an ongoing difficulty – the problem may not change but the way we can  learn to relate to it differently.
Whilst taking part in the course it is important to remember that it can be stressful to take the course. Finding the time to practice involves a shift in routine. Things may appear to be feeling more intense and challenging. The programme encourages us to bring a high degree of attention to everything, even the unpleasant or difficult things we are experiencing in our lives. This forms an important part of the learning to stay and be with problems and difficulties, rather than turn away from them and avoid them. There is little opportunity or time during the course to discuss any current or past personal problems not related to the practices. If necessary, these should be pursued through individual work with a counsellor or other appropriate support.

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Price: 105.760 kr. (including an individual assessment)

NB. The course will be videotaped for supervision purposes. The camera will though solely be pointed towards the teacher and no participants will be on screen.

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