 An introduction to mindfulness based stress reduction
Mindfulness based stress reduction is a relatively new technique that has been developed as a powerful alternative to traditional methods of stress reduction. The process involves meditation and allows the subject to “look inwards” and take control of their own thoughts and feelings. Once the individual has developed the techniques, they will be able to look at thoughts that were previously associated with stress, and will not be as bothered by these thoughts as they would have been before mindfulness based treatment.
The ideas behind mindfulness based stress reduction, or MBSR as you may often see it abbreviated to, were developed throughout the 1980s and 1990s at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, a professor of medicine who has dedicated his life to developing mindfulness based techniques for reducing stress. The program developed by Kabat-Zinn and his team of psychologists involves 8 weeks of weekly sessions in which patients practice meditation and yoga, amongst other techniques. As well as the weekly classes, patients must keep up their practice at home, performing at least half an hour of meditation every day, for at least six days a week.
Patients come away from the eight week course with a much greater awareness of the relationship between body and mind, and a higher level of control over their thoughts and feelings. Since the program started, in 1979, it has been made available worldwide, in over 200 different centers. Mindfulness based stress reduction classes themselves are led by various medical professionals, including doctors, nurses, psychologists or even social workers, and the course is said to help develop a very strong bond between the course leader and the patients. However, all course leaders must practice mindfulness themselves, so that they are in the best position to help others.
Because of the widespread success of mindfulness based stress reduction techniques in helping individuals who suffer from repeated bouts of stress, there is now a lot of research into how these methodologies could be applied to other situations, and be used to treat patients suffering from a variety of conditions. A recent research program focused on using MBSR techniques as a treatment for alcoholism, which has been awarded nearly $2 million in grants. The ideas behind this program are based on the fact that an increased level of stress in an individual prone to heavy drinking will only increase the risk of falling into alcoholism. There has even been research into using to mindfulness based stress reduction to help people give up smoking, with good results: after six weeks, 56% of participants were confirmed to have completely quit.
Mindfulness based stress reduction, then, has been proven to be a highly effective method of treating stress, and it is now being shown to be just as effective in helping individuals suffering from a wide variety of conditions and addictions. And while similar methods of treatment, such as mindfulness based cognitive therapy, are also proven to work, they require the patients to have a previous history of relapsing episodes of their condition, usually depression, MBSR is shown to work for any individual willing to undertake the program.
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