Volume_5_Issue_1_Digest

4 TPC Digest Seeing a need for an intervention to help patients who had repeatedly relapsed into depression, Segal, Williams, and Teasdale developed and published a 2002 article on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a manualized program of therapy. Designed as an 8-week program with specific guidelines for each session, MBCT was originally conceived as a group modality. Clients are placed in classes to learn the mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral skills needed to regulate emotions and thoughts. MBCT involves training the mind to avoid judgmental reactions to events, thoughts, feelings and body sensations and to practice nonjudgmental awareness and acceptance. Essentially, MBCT can help bring greater attention to the present, while avoiding the anxiety of the future and the depression of the past. While primarily a model of therapy, MBCT contains operationally defined constructs that are consistent and testable. The concept of mindfulness is the central construct in MBCT. Mindfulness, derived from Zen Buddhism, has been described as a commitment to bringing awareness back to the present moment. This article presents a study meant to explore the effectiveness of a modified MBCT intervention in reducing stress and increasing the levels of mindfulness, using nursing students as participants in individual sessions. The researchers collected baseline data and completed 6 weeks of an MBCT intervention with three nursing students in an effort to see whether self-reported levels of mindfulness increased and self-reported levels of stress decreased. The MBCT intervention was modified for length and modality. Using Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Individual Counseling to Reduce Stress and Increase Mindfulness Mark J. Schwarze Edwin R. Gerler, Jr. An Exploratory Study With Nursing Students Results indicated that using a modified MBCT intervention in individual sessions reduced stress as measured by Cohen and Williamson’s 1988 Perceived Stress Scale in two out of three participants and increased mindfulness levels as measured by Brown and Ryan’s 2003 Mindful Attention Awareness Scale in all three participants. Implications for college counselors and counselors who work with clients in high-stress occupations are provided. Areas of future research include additional testing of MBCT with college students, as well as the use of MBCT with technological delivery methods. Mark J. Schwarze, NCC, is an Assistant Professor at Appalachian State University. Edwin R. Gerler, Jr. is a Professor at North Carolina State University. Correspondence can be addressed to Mark J. Schwarze, Reich College of Education, Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling, 151 College Street, Appalachian State University, Box 32075, Boone, NC 28608-2075, schwarzem@appstate.edu. Read full article and references: Schwarze, M. J., & Gerler, E. R., Jr. (2015). Using Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Individual Counseling to Reduce Stress and Increase Mindfulness: An Exploratory Study With Nursing Students. The Professional Counselor , 5 , 39–52. doi:10.15241/mjs.5.1.39