The Effects of a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Intervention for Children

Cognitive behavioural therapy has been proven to be effective in the treatment of child and adolescent depression (Lewinsohn & Clarke, 1999; Harrington et al, 1998, March et al, 2004). There is general agreement in the clinical literature that the techniques of cognitive behavioural approaches to therapy are likely to be effective in treating depression (Brewin, 1996; Beech, 2000).

Mindful based stress reduction is an eight week program that helps people with stress anxiety and many other forms of medical related conditions. This program was created in 1979 by Dr John Kabalt Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. This program is based on yoga and meditation technique. This treatment derives from ancient healing methods as well. This form of treatment is to develop to join the mind and body. Dr Zinn defines this technique as a way to become more mindful.The topic of choice I chose was to test the Effects of Mindful based stressed reduction in military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and promoting psychological well being. Post traumatic stress disorder is a psychiatric disorder that has

In another study, Kendall et al. (2008) examined and compared effects of individual and family cognitive-behavioural therapy in children. Those researcher conducted a randomised clinical research study on 161 children (44% female and 56% male) who varied in age from 7 to 14 years (M = 10.27). The study covered separation anxiety disorder, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder.

This summary will provide the reader with different methods of Cognitive Behavior Therapy. CBT can be used for multiple populations and is known for changing the way one thinks. This summary will focus on the use of CBT with children who have experienced a traumatic event in their life, also known as post traumatic disorder (PTSD). The articles that have been reviewed provide different interventions for children who have experienced PTSD and determine how effective the methods were.

Dickinson, Friary and McCann (2016) state that Kabat-Zinn’s (2011, 1991) Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program is connected to mindfulness. Bishop et al (2004) claim that suggesting Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as a means of treating people’s sufferings has significantly increased the clinical uses of mindfulness.

One of the most important considerations for counselors and counselors in training is the possibility of burn out due to the inherent stress that comes with being in the helping profession. This burn out can lead to a whole host of problems including ethical and legal issues, attention and concentration issues as well as psychological issues for the counselor. Because of this, many attempts are being made to promote self-care in the industry, but not much progress has been made in measuring the need for teaching self-care to counselors in training.

MBCT is commonly used in studies as a comparison tool against other treatments to determine which is more effective for that situation. MBCT has been commonly combined or compared with other psychotherapies such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). The different psychotherapies each incorporate mindfulness in a different manner. Each practice places emphasis in different areas such as the validation of an individual’s skills used in DBT, or the idea of self-regulation used in MBSR. Combining the primary components of MBSR and cognitive therapy prompted the development of MBCT (Beckerman & Corbett, 2009). MBCT is an eight-week group-training program that

In “Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for Prehypertension” by Hughes, Fresco, Myerscough, Dulmen, Carlson, & Josephson (2013) 56 patients aged 30- 60 with un-medicated pre-hypertension were randomized into two groups; the experimental group practiced mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) teqniques, and the control group practiced progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). (Hughes et al.2013) Program consisted of 8 group sessions 2.5 hours long each to receive instruction and practice assigned relaxation activities, participants were instructed to practice the exercises for 45 minutes per day 6 days per week using the provided audio guided version of the exercises. (Hughes et al.2013) Each group was encouraged to bring the learned practice to their normal daily activities as well. MBSR consisted three mindfulness skills the body scan, sitting meditation, and yoga.

Psychologists poorly understand the causes and long-term effects of anxiety disorders in adolescents. According to Woodward and Fergusson (2001) in their journal article “Life Course Outcomes of Young People With Anxiety Disorders in Adolescence”, anxiety disorders affect nearly 5.7% to 17.7% of adolescents across the range of anxiety disorders (Woodward and Ferguson, 2001). These disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, overanxious disorder, social phobia, agoraphobia, panic disorder and simple phobia (Woodward and Ferguson, 2001). In fact, according to Friedman (2014), a professor of clinical psychology at Weill Cornell Medical College, in his New York Times article “Why Teenagers Act Crazy”, up to 20% of adolescents in the United States demonstrate characteristics of a diagnosable anxiety disorder (Friedman, 2014). Many psychologists have questioned why anxiety disorders affect so many adolescents. In a study at Weill Cornell Medical College and Stanford University, researchers learned that adolescents tend to be more afraid and have difficulty controlling their fears. When researchers showed participants in the study fearful faces, adolescents had a more exaggerated response in the amygdala, the part of the brain that evaluates and responds to fear, than children and adults. So overall, adolescents already experience more increased fear, which induces more anxiety. Normally the prefrontal cortex can help

Mindfulness meditation has been reported for generating long-term, positive psychological effects of individuals whom incorporate the practice as a routine in their daily lives. In recent years, psychotherapeutic programs have made advances in research proving reduction of symptoms in chronic, psychosomatic, and psychiatric disorders. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) are two of many non religious programs designed to enhance an individual’s veridical perception and have a moment-to-moment understanding of their own mental processing. The practices are nonjudgmental and are meant to reduce negative effects of their disorder while improving vitality and coping (Grossman et al., 2004). An

CBT is evidence based and uses empirically validated interventions while employing a variety of behavior modification therapies.

The results reveal that cognitive behavioral therapy did result in improvements on the physical and social anxiety scales, and overall anxiety symptoms (Yen et al., 2013). Essentially, indicating that CBT has the potential to improve anxiety symptoms in both the child and the mother (Yen et al., 2013). Although this study showed positive results in the treatment of children’s behavioral problems, it seems as though attempting to identify the children’s issues, in conjunction with

They were asked to sit in comfortable position and allow the focus of awareness to expand to the thoughts such as the future, body, feelings, emotions, thoughts about time

In this study, Jennifer L. Hudson, Ronald M. Rapee, Heidi J. Lyneham, Lauren F. McLellan, Viviana M. Wuthrich, and Carolyn A. Schniering test the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapies on different types of anxiety. Results from several tests and studies show a 60% recovery rate for children suffering from anxiety disorders. They state that most studies deal with children with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Social Anxiety Disorder. However, this study covers a more broad range of anxiety disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The study was comprised of 842 seven to fourteen year olds with one or more of the previous mentioned anxiety disorders. The CBTs were

According the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, one in five teenagers suffer from school-related anxiety, but of those less than half receive any type of treatment or counseling