Books / Cognitive & behavioural
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
Zindel V. Segal, J. Mark G. Williams and John D. Teasdale present mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), an eight-week group programme developed to help prevent depressive relapse. This record describes the second edition.
Book details
Author of listed edition: Zindel V. Segal, J. Mark G. Williams and John D. Teasdale
Edition: 2nd edition (© 2013; hardcover released 2012; 1st ed. © 2002)
Publisher: Guilford Press
Edition year: 2013
First published: 2002
Original title: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse
Language and origin: English (Canada / United Kingdom)
ISBN: 9781462507504
Form and genre: Treatment Manual & Clinical Guide
Level: Intermediate
Historical era: 1980–2009 · Evidence-Based, Trauma & Integrative Era
Covers: Differential activation hypothesis of depressive relapse; Doing (driven-discrepancy) mode vs. Being mode of mind; Decentering / metacognitive awareness; 8-week MBCT group curriculum and 3-Minute Breathing Space
APA 7th reference: Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.
What it is & historical context
The authors developed mindfulness-based cognitive therapy as an eight-week group approach to reduce depressive relapse. It combines mindfulness practices with elements of cognitive therapy. The first edition carried the subtitle A New Approach to Preventing Relapse. The second edition is catalogued with a 2013 copyright date; the publisher lists the hardcover release in October 2012.
Core clinical themes & arguments
The manual describes the differential activation hypothesis: after depression, a low mood may reactivate patterns of negative thinking. MBCT aims to help participants notice thoughts and feelings as passing experiences. This is a theoretical account, not a prediction that low mood will lead to relapse.
Clinical practice, reception & legacy
The book presents an eight-week group programme. A 2016 individual participant data meta-analysis pooled nine randomised trials involving people with recurrent depression and found lower relapse risk for MBCT than for non-MBCT controls over 60 weeks. The results should be read in the context of the participants and comparators in those trials.
Reader level & educational scope
This intermediate entry offers educational orientation. The study abstract was consulted; the full book and trial reports were not reviewed. Decisions about treatment belong in discussion with a qualified clinician.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis From Randomized Trials (Willem Kuyken, Fiona C. Warren, Rod S. Taylor, Ben Whalley, Catherine Crane and colleagues, 2016)
Reference: Kuyken, W., Warren, F. C., Taylor, R. S., Whalley, B., Crane, C., Bondolfi, G., Hayes, R., Huijbers, M., Ma, H., Schweizer, S., Segal, Z., Speckens, A., Teasdale, J. D., Van Heeringen, K., Williams, M., Byford, S., Byng, R., & Dalgleish, T. (2016). Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in prevention of depressive relapse: An individual patient data meta-analysis from randomized trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(6), 565–574.
An individual participant data meta-analysis pooled nine randomised trials (1,258 participants) and found lower relapse risk for MBCT than for non-MBCT controls over 60 weeks. The findings concern people with recurrent depression and the comparators studied.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: According to the differential activation hypothesis, vulnerability to depressive relapse is driven by the reactivation of ruminative cognitive-affective networks during ordinary, transient dips in mood. (This is a proposed account of vulnerability, not an explanation established for every person with depression. The full book was not reviewed for this entry.) [Source 1: Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression (2nd ed.). Guilford Press. (Original work published 2002)]
Claim 2: A 2016 individual participant data meta-analysis found lower depressive relapse risk with MBCT than with non-MBCT controls over 60 weeks among participants with recurrent depression. (The analysis pooled nine trials; findings are limited to the populations and comparisons studied and do not determine an individual treatment choice.) [Source 3: Kuyken, W., Warren, F. C., Taylor, R. S., Whalley, B., Crane, C., Bondolfi, G., Hayes, R., Huijbers, M., Ma, H., Schweizer, S., Segal, Z., Speckens, A., Teasdale, J. D., Van Heeringen, K., Williams, M., Byford, S., Byng, R., & Dalgleish, T. (2016). Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in prevention of depressive relapse: An individual patient data meta-analysis from randomized trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(6), 565–574.]
Sources and inspection notes
Supports: Publisher lists the second edition, its formats, hardcover release date and ISBN; the full book was not reviewed.
Supports: Pending verification: Initial landmark multi-site RCT of MBCT for relapse prevention in recurrent depression.
Supports: Abstract of the 2016 individual patient data meta-analysis of relapse prevention.
Supports: Catalogue records the first edition title, authors and 2002 publication.
WorldCat. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression, 2nd edition. Catalogue record.
Supports: Catalogue records the second edition with a 2013 copyright date.