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...
BMJ Open
December 8, 2025
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
Introduction: About 30% of depressed patients suffer from a protracted course in which the disorder continues to cause significant burden despite treatment efforts. While originally developed for relapse prevention, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) has increasingly been investigated in depressed patients with such 'difficult-to-treat' courses. This is a protocol for an individual...
medRxiv
June 9, 2025
Thorsten Barnhofer, Maria Niemi, Johannes Michalak et al.
preprint
ABSTRACT: Introduction: About 30% of depressed patients suffer from a protracted course in which the disorder continues to cause significant burden despite treatment efforts. While originally developed for relapse prevention, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) has increasingly been investigated in depressed patients with such ‘difficult-to-treat’ courses. This is a protocol for an...
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 Affective Disorders
August 15, 2023
Angela Jakary, Janine M Lupo, Scott Mackin et al.
We applied 7 Tesla phase sensitive imaging to evaluate the impact of brain iron levels on depression severity and cognitive function in individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) treated with mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). Seventeen unmedicated MDD participants underwent MRI, evaluation of depression severity, and cognitive testing before and after receiving MBCT, compared to...
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...
Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science
2022
Andreea L Seritan, Ana-Maria Iosif, Prarthana Prakash et al.
Anxiety and depression are common non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Caregivers of people with PD may experience severe caregiver burden. This study explored the feasibility and potential benefits of an online mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) intervention for improving anxiety and depressive symptoms in people with PD and their caregivers (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04469049,...
Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience
December 2017
Jamie M Ferri, Stuart J. Eisendrath, Susanna L Fryer et al.
Up to 50% of individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not recover after two antidepressant medication trials, and therefore meet the criteria for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is one promising treatment; however, the extent to which MBCT influences clinical outcomes relative to baseline neural activation remains unknown. In the...
Magma
June 2016
Yan Li, Angela Jakary, Erin P Gillung et al.
Our aim was to evaluate differences in metabolite levels between unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and healthy controls, to assess changes in metabolites in patients after they completed an 8-week course of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and to exam the correlation between metabolites and depression severity. Sixteen patients with MDD and ten age- and...
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...
Mindfulness
June 1, 2015
Stuart J. Eisendrath, Erin P Gillung, Kevin L. Delucchi et al.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of disability in the developed world, yet broadly effective treatments remain elusive. The primary aim of this pilot study was to investigate the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) monotherapy, compared to sertraline monotherapy, for patients with acute MDD. This open-label, nonrandomized controlled trial examined a MBCT...
Psychosomatics
October 22, 2014
Felipe A Jain, Roger Walsh, Stuart J. Eisendrath et al.
Background: Recently, the application of meditative practices to the treatment of depressive disorders has met with increasing clinical and scientific interest, owing to a lower side-effect burden, potential reduction of polypharmacy, and theoretical considerations that such interventions may target some of the cognitive roots of depression. Objective: We aimed to determine the state of the...
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
March 11, 2014
Stuart J. Eisendrath, Erin P Gillung, Kevin L. Delucchi et al.
BackgroundMajor depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of disability in the developed world, yet broadly effective treatments remain elusive. Up to 40% of patients with depression are unresponsive to at least two trials of antidepressant medication and thus have “treatment-resistant depression” (TRD). There is an urgent need for cost-effective, non-pharmacologic, evidence-based...
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
February 1, 2012
Walter E B Sipe, Stuart J. Eisendrath
283 citations
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) incorporates elements of cognitive-behavioural therapy with mindfulness-based stress reduction into an 8-session group program. Initially conceived as an intervention for relapse prevention in people with recurrent depression, it has since been applied to various psychiatric conditions. Our paper aims to briefly describe MBCT and its putative...
Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
August 1, 2011
Stuart J. Eisendrath, M. Chartier, Maura Mclane
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is currently ranked the third leading cause of disability in the world. Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) causes the majority of MDD's disability. Strikingly, 50% of individuals with MDD will fail to remit with two adequate trials of antidepressant medications, thus qualifying as treatment resistant. Current pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment...