Mindfulness
July 7, 2026
Joseph J. Lévy, Sona Dimidjian, Zindel V. Segal
Abstract Objectives Over the past decade, research on mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) has expanded exponentially. A decade ago, Dimidjian and Segal (2015) used the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stage Model to assess the state of the science and identify key issues limiting public health impact. The present review provided a ten-year update on the field’s progress, applying the same...
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
June 12, 2026
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
1 citation
INTRODUCTION: Around a third of patients with major depressive disorder experience persistent symptoms despite usual treatments. Identifying scalable, psychological treatment options is critical to reduce the burden associated with difficult-to-treat depression (DTD). We examined the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) compared with treatment as usual (TAU) and other active...
Global advances in integrative medicine and health
2025
Chelsea J Siwik, Jessica M. Harrison, Willem Kuyken et al.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) reduces depression relapse, yet graduates have expressed a need for structured guidance post-program to maintain mindfulness practice and sustain benefits. To address this, we created MBCT for Depression-Taking it Further (MBCT-D-TiF). To refine and pilot test feasibility and acceptability of MBCT-D-TiF. We collected qualitative focus group data to...
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
July 17, 2023
Sona Dimidjian, Robert Gallop, Joseph J. Lévy et al.
14 citations
OBJECTIVE: Digital delivery of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy through the Mindful Mood Balance (MMB) program is clinically effective (Segal et al., 2020); however, the mechanisms through which this program delivers its benefits have not been established. METHOD: This study investigates the differential impact of the MMB program paired with usual depression care (UDC) compared to UDC alone...
Global advances in integrative medicine and health
2023
Chelsea J Siwik, Shelley R Adler, Patricia J Moran et al.
7 citations
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an effective group intervention for reducing rates of depression relapse. However, about one-third of graduates experience relapse within 1 year of completing the course. The current study aimed to explore the need and strategies for additional support following the MBCT course. We conducted 4 focus groups via videoconferencing, two with MBCT...
NeuroImage Clinical
2022
Norman A. S. Farb, Philip A. Desormeau, Adam K. Anderson et al.
15 citations
BACKGROUND: Neural reactivity to dysphoric mood induction indexes the tendency for distress to promote cognitive reactivity and sensory avoidance. Linking these responses to illness prognosis following recovery from Major Depressive Disorder informs our understanding of depression vulnerability and provides engagement targets for prophylactic interventions. METHODS: A prospective fMRI...
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
2022
Magnus Bein, Myriam Lesage, Elena Dikaios et al.
Late-life depression (LLD) affects up to 18% of older adults and has been linked to elevated dementia risk. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) holds promise for treating symptoms of depression and ameliorating cognitive deficits in older adults. While preliminary findings are promising, a definitive RCT investigating its effects on late life depression and cognition have not yet been...
The Oxford Handbook of Stress and Mental Health
February 17, 2020
Philip A. Desormeau, Kathleen M. Walsh, Zindel V. Segal
Over the past two decades, investigations of mindfulness meditation have demonstrated considerable efficacy in reducing the symptom burden associated with a variety of medical and mental health disorders (Baer, 2003). This chapter reviews the theoretical basis for offering training in mindfulness meditation to these populations, and it outlines the structure of mindfulness-based interventions,...
Depression
October 1, 2019
Evan Collins, Zindel V. Segal
There is growing interest in mindfulness as a therapeutic intervention for a variety of physical and mental health conditions, including depression. A major contribution has been the growing evidence base of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for prevention of depressive relapse in those with recurrent unipolar depression, as well as MBCT’s application to other mood disorders, special...
World Psychiatry
September 22, 2016
Zindel V. Segal, Lê-Anh Dinh-Williams
11 citations
Relapse and recurrence are common and debilitating aspects of major depressive disorder. Furthermore, the risk of developing a chronic course of illness increases with each successive episode and, even among patients who achieve clinical remission, residual depressive symptoms are commonly reported. Maintenance antidepressant monotherapy is effective as long as it is continued, yet in practice...
JAMA Psychiatry
April 28, 2016
Willem Kuyken, Fiona C Warren, Rod S. Taylor et al.
815 citations
IMPORTANCE: Relapse prevention in recurrent depression is a significant public health problem, and antidepressants are the current first-line treatment approach. Identifying an equally efficacious nonpharmacological intervention would be an important development. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis on individual patient data to examine the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy...
Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics
2016
Stuart J. Eisendrath, Erin P Gillung, Kevin L. Delucchi et al.
193 citations
BACKGROUND: Due to the clinical challenges of treatment-resistant depression (TRD), we evaluated the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) relative to a structurally equivalent active comparison condition as adjuncts to treatment-as-usual (TAU) pharmacotherapy in TRD. METHODS: This single-site, randomized controlled trial compared 8-week courses of MBCT and the Health...
Current Opinion in Psychiatry
December 11, 2015
Zindel V. Segal, Kathleen M. Walsh
64 citations
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The article reviews the recent evidence for mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for patients with residual depressive symptoms or in remitted patients at increased risk for relapse. RECENT FINDINGS: Randomized controlled trials have shifted focus from comparing MBCT with treatment-as-usual to comparing MBCT against interventions. These studies have provided evidence...
American Psychologist
October 1, 2015
Sona Dimidjian, Zindel V. Segal
297 citations
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are at a pivotal point in their future development. Spurred on by an ever-increasing number of studies and breadth of clinical application, the value of such approaches may appear self-evident. We contend, however, that the public health impact of MBIs can be enhanced significantly by situating this work in a broader framework of clinical psychological...
Sleep
August 29, 2014
Jason C Ong, Rachel Manber, Zindel V. Segal et al.
338 citations
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for the treatment of chronic insomnia. DESIGN: Three-arm, single-site, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-four adults with chronic insomnia. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to either mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), mindfulness-based therapy for insomnia...
Journal of Medical Internet Research
March 24, 2014
Jennifer M. Boggs, Arne Beck, Jennifer N. Felder et al.
73 citations
BACKGROUND: Mindful Mood Balance (MMB) is a Web-based intervention designed to treat residual depressive symptoms and prevent relapse. MMB was designed to deliver the core concepts of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), a group treatment, which, despite its strong evidence base, faces a number of dissemination challenges. OBJECTIVE: The present study is a qualitative investigation of...
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
March 4, 2014
Graham Meadows, Frances Shawyer, Joanne Enticott et al.
66 citations
OBJECTIVE: While mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has demonstrated efficacy in reducing depressive relapse/recurrence over 12-18 months, questions remain around effectiveness, longer-term outcomes, and suitability in combination with medication. The aim of this study was to investigate within a pragmatic study design the effectiveness of MBCT on depressive relapse/recurrence over 2...
Current Directions in Psychological Science
December 1, 2013
Rimma Teper, Zindel V. Segal, Michael Inzlicht
557 citations
Although the psychological benefits of mindfulness training on emotion regulation are well-documented, the precise mechanisms underlying these effects remain unclear. In the present account, we propose a new linkage between mindfulness and improved emotion regulation—one that highlights the role played by executive control. Specifically, we suggest that the present-moment awareness and...
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
June 11, 2012
Norman A. S. Farb, Zindel V. Segal, Adam K. Anderson
566 citations
One component of mindfulness training (MT) is the development of interoceptive attention (IA) to visceral bodily sensations, facilitated through daily practices such as breath monitoring. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examined experience-dependent functional plasticity in accessing interoceptive representations by comparing graduates of a Mindfulness-Based Stress...
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
March 12, 2012
Peter Bieling, Lance L. Hawley, Richard T. Bloch et al.
239 citations
OBJECTIVE: To examine whether metacognitive psychological skills, acquired in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), are also present in patients receiving medication treatments for prevention of depressive relapse and whether these skills mediate MBCT's effectiveness. METHOD: This study, embedded within a randomized efficacy trial of MBCT, was the first to examine changes in mindfulness...
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
February 1, 2012
Norman A. S. Farb, Adam K. Anderson, Zindel V. Segal
361 citations
Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental attention to present-moment experience. In its therapeutic forms, mindfulness interventions promote increased tolerance of negative affect and improved well-being. However, the neural mechanisms underlying mindful mood regulation are poorly understood. Mindfulness training appears to enhance focused attention, supported by the anterior cingulate cortex and the...
Journal of Clinical Psychology
January 26, 2012
Jennifer N. Felder, Sona Dimidjian, Zindel V. Segal
55 citations
In this article, we describe the nature of therapeutic collaboration between psychotherapist and group participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which occurs in a group format and incorporates cognitive therapy and mindfulness practices with the aim of preventing depression relapse. Collaboration is a central part of two components of MBCT: inquiry and leading mindfulness...
Contemporary Buddhism
May 1, 2011
Melanie Fennell, Zindel V. Segal
31 citations
AbstractMindfulness-based cognitive therapy creates an unlikely partnership, between the ancient tradition of mindfulness meditation rooted in Buddhist thought, and the much more recent and essentially western tradition of cognitive and clinical science. This article investigates points of congruence and difference between the two traditions and concludes that, despite first appearances, this...
Emotion
February 1, 2010
Norman A. S. Farb, Adam K. Anderson, Helen S. Mayberg et al.
523 citations
Recovery from emotional challenge and increased tolerance of negative affect are both hallmarks of mental health. Mindfulness training (MT) has been shown to facilitate these outcomes, yet little is known about its mechanisms of action. The present study employed functional MRI (fMRI) to compare neural reactivity to sadness provocation in participants completing 8 weeks of MT and waitlisted...
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
November 1, 2007
Nicole D. Anderson, Mark A. Lau, Zindel V. Segal et al.
326 citations
Abstract This study was designed to test the hypothesis that mindfulness involves sustained attention, attention switching, inhibition of elaborative processing and non‐directed attention. Healthy adults were tested before and after random assignment to an 8‐week Mindfulness‐Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course ( n = 39) or a wait‐list control ( n = 33). Testing included measures of sustained...