What Next After MBSR/MBCT? An Open Trial of an 8-Week Follow-on Program Exploring Mindfulness of Feeling Tone (vedanā)
J. Williams, R. Baer, M. Batchelor, R. Crane, C. Cullen, K. de Wilde, M. Fennell, Linda Kantor, J. Kirby, S. H. Ma, E. Medlicott, Barbara Gerber, Mandy Johnson, E. Ong, J. Peacock, D. Penman, Andy Phee, Lucy Radley, M. Watkin, L. Taylor
Mindfulness July 7, 2022 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-022-01929-0 (opens in new tab) via Semantic Scholar
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA new 8-week follow-on mindfulness course focused on awareness of feeling tone (vedanā) was tested in an open trial with 83 participants, 78 of whom had previously completed a mindfulness-based program. After the course, participants showed reduced depression, stress, and anxiety and increased well-being and mindfulness, with 38% meeting criteria for reliable change in anxiety and depression. About three-quarters reported unpleasant experiences related to mindfulness practice, but none reported harm. Five participants showed reliable deterioration in depression or anxiety, though most of them described benefits in anonymous feedback. The findings suggest added value from a follow-on course exploring feeling tone for people with prior mindfulness experience.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Open trial Randomized Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 83 |
| Population | Participants who had previously taken part in a mindfulness-based program (majority MBSR or MBCT) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Keywords | Medicine Psychology |
| Key finding | Participants reported significantly reduced depression, stress, and anxiety and increased well-being and mindfulness after the 8-week follow-on course. |
Abstract
The effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) has been established in many randomized controlled trials. However, effect sizes are often modest, and there remains ample scope to improve their effectiveness. One approach to this challenge is to offer a “follow-on” course to people who have completed an MBP and are interested in further skill development. We developed and tested a new 8-week course for this purpose based on awareness of feeling tone (vedanā), an understudied aspect of mindfulness in many current MBPs, incorporating new developments in neuroscience and trauma sensitivity. We examined its effectiveness and the frequency and severity of unpleasant experience and harm. In an open trial, 83 participants, 78 of whom had previously taken part in an MBP (majority MBSR or MBCT), completed the program in nine groups. Participants completed questionnaires before and after and gave qualitative written feedback at completion. Participants reported significantly reduced depression (d = 0.56), stress (d = 0.36), and anxiety (d = 0.53) and increased well-being (d = 0.54) and mindfulness (d = 0.65) with 38% meeting criteria for reliable change on anxiety and depression. As expected, about three-quarters of participants reported some unpleasant experiences associated with mindfulness practice during the course, but none reported harm. Five participants showed “reliable deterioration” (an increase) in either depression or anxiety, but four of these five also gave anonymous qualitative feedback describing benefits of the course. Findings support the added value of a follow-on course based on the exploration of feeling tone for participants who have a range of previous mindfulness experience.