Evidence-based psychotherapy originally developed to treat individuals with borderline personality disorder and chronically suicidal individuals. Treatment focuses on mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy 

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is an educational therapy program with the goal of teaching individuals both formal and informal/everyday mindfulness techniques to help reduce psychological distress.

Standard MBSR programs are 8-weeks in duration consisting of 26 hours with a 6-hour one day class (total of 32 hours). Participants are also expected to practice 45 minutes per day at home during the program.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) centers on the utilization of acceptance, values, mindfulness and conventional behavior change methods with the goal of reducing psychological inflexibility. 

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an 8-week psychotherapy program that includes elements of both Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with the goal of enhancing one’s psychological well-being through formal/informal meditation practices. 

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

A combination of relapse prevention which is a cognitive behavioral therapy with mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. It is a mindfulness based aftercare approach to prevent those who have suffered from addiction to relapse.

Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention

- MSC is a Self-Compassion intervention program which aims, over 8 weeks, to provide participants with a variety of tools to increase self-compassion, which they can integrate into their lives according to what works best for them. It works to cultivate self-compassion through sitting practice, day-to-day practices and experiential education. 

Mindful Self-Compassion Program (MSC)

Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) is an intervention created primarily for Binge Eating Disorder (BED). It is a 10 session intervention that involves teaching patients a variety of mindfulness meditation techniques to address core issues of BED. The program structure focuses on 4 stages that cultivate a non judgmental awareness of the internal experience with eating and external patterns or triggers that continue the cycle of binging. 

Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training

Mindfulness-Based Art Therpay integrates mindfulness meditation skills and aspects of art therapy into an eight week, gender segregated supportive group therapy format.

 Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy (MBAT) 

- Mindfulness-based stress reduction
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy
- Dialectical behavioral therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
- Mindfulness-based relapse prevention
- Mindfulness-based relationship enhancement
- Mindful self-compassion training
- Mindfulness-based eating awareness training

Villanova University

Pitzer College

University of Texas at Austin

Wake Forest University

Georgetown University

University of California, Davis

Mindfulness Interventions refer to therapeutic approaches grounded in mindfulness to create a structured, replicable program. 

Mindfulness Interventions

Fabrizio, D. (ed.). (2009). Clinical handbook of mindfulness. Springer. 

Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness

Hofmann, S. G., &amp; Gómez, A. F. (2018). Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Anxiety and Depression. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 40(4), 739–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2017.08.008 

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Anxiety and Depression

Neff, K. D., & Germer, C. K. (2012). A Pilot Study and Randomized Controlled Trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(1), 28–44. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.21923

A Pilot Study and Randomized Controlled Trial of the Mindful Self-Compassion Program

Kristeller, J. L., & Wolever, R. Q. (2010). Mindfulness-based eating awareness training for treating binge eating disorder: the conceptual foundation. Eating disorders, 19(1), 49-61.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10640266.2011.533605

Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training for Treating Binge Eating Disorder

- Until recently, most trials compared MBIs to a waitlist control group, so it is not surprising it performed significantly better when it is compared to no treatment at all. In a study with a general health education control, mindfulness did not have better results, demonstrating the need to interpret studies carefully.
- There is little research on long-term effects of mindfulness, and whether the effects are only immediate or long-lasting.
- Limited research on the efficacy of internet/phone MBIs
- Methodological gaps
- Reliance on subjective, self-report measures
- Use of uncontrolled studies rather than randomized controlled trials
- Attrition
- Small sample size leading to diminished statistical power
- Participant restrictions preventing generalizability to general population.
- Little research on effectiveness on individual differences like differences in relapse in depression.

 Limitations of Current Mindfulness Intervention Research

There are various populations that can benefit from the use of mindfulness-based interventions, and these populations can differ in age, gender, race, orientations, etc. 

- Children and youth
- Parents
- Those Suffering From Addiction
- Patients with anxiety or depression
- Patients with eating disorders
- Those suffering from minority stress
- Traumatic Brain Injury patients
- Healthcare workers
- Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma 
- Athletes
- People Who Have Insomnia
- War veterans who suffer from PTSD
- Incarcerated Individuals

Populations that Benefit from Mindfulness Interventions

- Mindfulness-based interventions
- Mindfulness-informed interventions

Types of Mindfulness Interventions

Examples of Mindfulness Interventions (masterlist)

Mindfulness-based interventions have gained significant attention in clinical psychology due to their effectiveness in promoting mental well-being and reducing psychological distress.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After