TPC-Journal-V5-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 1 43 participants, and exercises could be consolidated. Also, MBCT was originally used to treat clients with chronic relapsing depressive disorders, while stress was the target symptom in this study. Due to this shift in focus, some of the exercises and homework assignments relevant to those who might have depression were not included in the intervention. Another modification included the use of prerecorded guided meditations for body scans and breathing instead of researcher-led meditations. During sections of the intervention when a meditation was introduced and practiced, the researcher started a prerecorded meditation and left the room while the participant experienced the meditation. The prerecorded breathing and body scan meditations used for this study were from the Maddux and Maddux podcast (2006). The modified intervention still utilized the core MBCT exercises and philosophy. The next section includes a description of the major techniques used and what modifications were made to accommodate the study goals. Also included is an outline of the six session themes. Theme 1: Using Mindfulness to Break Out of Automatic Pilot focuses on an orientation to mindfulness and techniques to develop a heightened awareness of the present moment. Theme 2: Focus on the Body Enhances Clarity of the Mind , and Theme 3 : Mindfulness of the Breath introduce the exercises of the body scan and breathing mediation. Theme 4: Acceptance promotes nonjudgmental acceptance of events, cognitions and emotions. Theme 5: Thoughts Are Not Facts is an educational session about cognitive-behavioral philosophies and their impact on moderating emotions. Theme 6: Putting It All Together provides a summary of the ideas and techniques of MBCT, with suggestions on how to integrate the concepts daily. The modified structure and content used is unique to this study; however, the specific components, homework and exercises are taken from Segal et al. (2002). Table 1 describes the schedule and order of session content, including session themes and agendas. MBCT Techniques and Exercises Used in the Study Raisin exercise. Used as an introduction to mindfulness, this exercise asks participants to take a raisin offered by the researcher and examine all aspects of its shape, texture and external characteristics. Open-ended questions are asked to help participants explore their experience. Body scan meditation. The exercise brings a detailed awareness and focus to specific areas of the body. A modification in this study included using a shorter meditation (8 minutes; Maddux & Maddux, 2006). Be mindful during a routine activity. Participants are asked to choose a routine activity (e.g., brushing teeth, vacuuming, washing dishes) and to complete it mindfully per the study’s training. Homework record forms. Used in all sessions, these forms allow participants to document the frequency of practice of mindfulness activities. Thoughts and feelings exercise (professor sends an e-mail). In this exercise, the researcher presents a scenario to elicit participant reaction. Pleasant and unpleasant events calendars. Participants receive forms (Segal et al., 2002) that help them identify one pleasant event per day in week two and one unpleasant event per day in week three. Five-minute hearing exercise. Participants are asked to sit for 5 minutes with eyes closed and center all of their focus on hearing. When intrusive thoughts enter, participants are instructed to acknowledge them, but then return their focus to only hearing. Three-minute breathing space. A core skill in MBCT, this exercise acts as a mindfulness timeout .