![]() In mindfulness, you are being asked to simply remain aware when you are triggered, to accept the discomfort it causes, and to resist trying to change it with compulsions. In ERP, you are being asked to confront your triggers and resist responding to them with compulsions. In this way, mindfulness is not very different from exposure with response prevention (ERP). Rather than attempting to neutralize (or get rid of) these internal experiences with compulsions, mindfulness asks that we allow the moment to stay as it is. ![]() The present moment can include painful and confusing intrusive thoughts, feelings, and sensations that seem to lend themselves to judgment. In general, mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment without judgment. So, we are left with two questions: What is mindfulness? And how can it be used to improve, not take away from, traditional CBT treatment of OCD? However, there are concerns that mindfulness strategies can be used incorrectly as a “neutralizing” technique, or, in other words, that it may “cancel out” or weaken the effectiveness of traditional exposure and response prevention (ERP) treatment. ![]() More recently, many who specialize in treating OCD are finding that mindfulness may be useful at improving the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Over the years, research and clinical experience has shown mindfulness to be an important tool in addressing a number of mental health issues. Mindfulness is really “ in” right now, and there’s good reason for this. If you suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and you take the brave step of getting professional help, you’re likely to start hearing the word “mindfulness” used in reference to some part of your treatment. This article was initially published in the Spring 2014 edition of the OCD Newsletter. Hershfield and Corboy are also the authors of the new book, The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD: A Guide to Overcoming Obsessions and Compulsions Using Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbooks, 2013). Tom Corboy, MFT, is the executive director of the OCD Center of Los Angeles, where he is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in MBCBT for the treatment of OCD and related anxiety-based conditions. ![]() Jon Hershfield, MFT, is the associate director of the UCLA Child OCD Intensive Outpatient Program at Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, and is a psychotherapist specializing in the treatment of OCD and related disorders using mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy (MBCBT). īy Jon Hershfield, MFT, & Tom Corboy, MFT For more information on evidence-based treatment methods for OCD, please click here. These should be utilized as a last resort when all of the evidence-based treatment methods for OCD have already been accessed. While there is evidence to suggest that they could potentially be helpful in reducing OCD symptoms, they are not concretely proven to do so. It should be noted that all of the following procedures are still currently being researched. Practicing mindfulness was a more successful approach.Īs mindfulness shifted into mainstream science and medicine, it became a pivotal therapeutic technique it was integrated into Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, among others.Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for OCD He discovered that patients would often try to avoid pain-but that that avoidance would lead to deeper distress. As a professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school in the late 1970s, Kabat-Zinn developed a program called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to treat chronic pain. Kabat-Zinn studied mindfulness under several Buddhist teachers, such as Philip Kapleau and Thich Nhat Hanh. The emergence of mindfulness in Western culture can be attributed to Jon Kabat-Zinn. The term was roughly translated from the ancient language Pali into the term “mindfulness.” Buddhism includes a journey toward enlightenment, and the concept of “sati,”-which encompasses attention, awareness, and being present-is considered the first step toward enlightenment. Mindfulness is rooted in Buddhist and Hindu teachings. Mindfulness can therefore be a tool to avoid self-criticism and judgment while identifying and managing difficult emotions. ![]() To be mindful is to observe and label thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body in an objective manner. To live mindfully is to live in the moment and reawaken oneself to the present, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. ![]()
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