Mindfulness Based Therapies

An integral component of eastern based tradition for the last 2,500 years, “mindfulness based” therapies have become an integral part of modern psychological treatments for stress, anxiety and depression. Scientific investigation of individuals who practice regular mindfulness meditation confirms changes in brain function, structure and electrical activity. Improved function in other aspects of bodily function, such as the cardiovascular and immune systems has also been documented.

Beyond this however, learning the skills of mindfulness can quite powerfully help us obtain more fulfillment and vitality from life in general.

Learning and practicing these skills during pregnancy can help regulate mood, increase patience and acceptance and ultimately increase attunement to others including our partner and baby.

What are the mindfulness based therapies?

MBCT - (mindfulness based cognitive therapy), ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy), DBT (dialectical behaviour therapy). There is a significant amount of overlap amongst these broad categories of therapy, with more specialised programs being designed for specific applications such as recurrent depression, eating disorder, substance abuse.

What is meant by the term mindfulness?

Mindfulness has come to mean a quality of awareness which is specifically cultivated by paying attention to events as they occur in the internal and external world, with a non-judgemental attitude and self-compasssion. In doing so we notice habitual "thinking responses" such as judging, rumination, holding on to the past, and planning ahead to some future time. Mindfulness is not a thinking process, it is an alternative mode of mind that helps us avoid getting stuck, and helps us be more at peace with the inevitabilities of our lives.