MBSR

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

An eight-week training programme in mindfulness — attention, body awareness and movement — used to change how stress lands.

Created by: Jon Kabat-Zinn, late 1970s
Where: Stress Reduction Clinic, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, founded 1979
Programme: 8 weeks · weekly 2.5–3 hour groups · one all-day retreat between weeks 6 and 7
Home practice: 45–60 minutes a day, six days a week, with guided audio

What it is

MBSR is an educational programme for learning mindfulness and finding workable ways to manage stress, rather than a course of talk therapy.

Three practices carry it: mindfulness meditation, the body scan, and yoga postures. The body scan means sitting or lying quietly and moving attention systematically through the body, from the toes to the top of the head.

It has spread well beyond its original clinic — by 2015 nearly 80% of medical schools offered some element of mindfulness training.

What it looks like in session

1Guided mindfulness meditation, practised and then discussed
2The body scan, working attention through the body region by region
3Gentle yoga postures as movement practice, not exercise
4Daily home practice with audio between sessions
5An all-day silent retreat near the end of the programme
6Group discussion of what actually happened when you practised

What the evidence says

NCCIH reports that across trials with more than 12,000 participants, mindfulness-based approaches were better than no treatment for anxiety and depression and worked as well as established evidence-based therapies.

NCCIH also describes moderate evidence for sleep quality, chronic pain and PTSD, where meditation was as effective as prolonged exposure therapy at reducing PTSD symptoms.

The evidence is not uniform: NCCIH notes it is not conclusive for ADHD, and that about 8% of participants in studies reported a negative effect from meditating, most often anxiety or depression.

Nothing here is a prediction about your own treatment.

Often used for

StressAnxietySleepChronic pain

Wondering if MBSR is right for you?

You do not have to decide in advance. We work that out together in the first session, and often use more than one method.

Book a Session

Other methods we use

CBT