On today’s episode of Being Well, Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson talk with Dr. Zindel Segal about Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), an eight-week group therapy program designed to help those who suffer from chronic unhappiness and prevent relapse after episodes of severe clinical depression.

About our Guest: Dr. Segal is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto at Scarborough, and one of the creators of MBCT. He specializes in mood disorders, particularly depression, and has had an enormous influence on the clinical adoption of mindfulness-based practices and their addition to more traditional forms of cognitive therapy.

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Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

2:00: Origins of MBCT

4:30: Why Segal prioritized studying mindfulness as an intervention to depression

7:10: Comparing MBCT with traditional CBT

10:20: What about depression makes us more reactive to thoughts and feelings?

13:15: Mindfulness of sadness vs direct experience

18:35: MBCT practices explained

23:10: Three minute breathing space exercise

31:00: Attentional control training

33:45: Managing feelings of inadequacy

39:00: Motivation and implicit compassion

43:15: Ongoing practices after the MBCT course

45:45: Creating access to mindfulness resources

48:15: Recap

From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. 

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