Effects of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) on Symptom Change, Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Rumination in Clients With Depression, Anxiety, and Stress
Frontiers in Psychology May 17, 2019 Anna Dora Frostadottir, D. Dorjee
Both mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and compassion-focused therapy (CFT) led to significant increases in mindfulness and self-compassion and decreases in rumination, depression, anxiety, and stress in clients with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. MBCT enhanced mindfulness specifically for people who were initially high in rumination, whereas CFT enhanced mindfulness regardless of the client's rumination level. The findings suggest that both implicit (MBCT) and explicit (CFT) self-compassion instructions produce similar clinical outcomes, with CFT benefiting mindfulness across the board.