1st Edition

The Mindful Way Workbook An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress

    Imagine an 8-week program that can help you overcome depression, anxiety, and stress--by simply learning new ways to respond to your own thoughts and feelings. That program is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and it has been tested and proven effective in clinical trials throughout the world. Now you can get the benefits of MBCT any time, any place, by working through this carefully constructed book. For each week, the expert authors introduce specific mindfulness practices to try (with accompanying audio downloads), reflection questions, comments from others going through the program, and tools for keeping track of progress, which you can download and print for repeated use. Like a trusted map, this book guides you step by step along the path of change.

    See also the authors' The Mindful Way through Depression, which demonstrates these proven strategies with in-depth stories and examples. Plus, mental health professionals, see also the authors' bestselling therapy guide: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition.

    Winner (Second Place)--American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award, Consumer Health Category


    Foreword, Jon Kabat-Zinn
    I. Foundations
    1. Welcome
    2. Depression, Unhappiness, and Emotional Distress: Why Do We Get Stuck?
    3. Doing, Being, and Mindfulness
    4. Getting Ready
    II. The Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) Program
    5. Week 1: Beyond Automatic Pilot
    6. Week 2: Another Way of Knowing
    7. Week 3: Coming Home to the Present--Gathering the Scattered Mind
    8. Week 4: Recognizing Aversion
    9. Week 5: Allowing Things to Be as They Already Are
    10. Week 6: Seeing Thoughts as Thoughts
    11. Week 7: Kindness in Action
    12. Week 8: What Now?
    Resources
    List of Audio Files

    Audio Downloads(including running time and narrator):
    1. Welcome (00:31; John Teasdale)
    2. Raisin Exercise (09:53; Zindel Segal)
    3. Body Scan (39:08; John Teasdale)
    4. 10-Minute Sitting Meditation--Mindfulness of the Breath (09:54; Mark Williams)
    5. Mindful Movement--Formal Practice (38:30; Zindel Segal)
    6. Stretch and Breath Meditation (33:39; Mark Williams)
    7. Mindful Walking (13:42; Mark Williams)
    8. 3-Minute Breathing Space (05:02; John Teasdale)
    9. 3-Minute Breathing Space--Extended Version (05:19; Zindel Segal)
    10. 20-Minute Sitting Meditation (20:38; Zindel Segal)
    11. Sitting Meditation (37:47; John Teasdale)
    12. Working with Difficulty Meditation (25:47; Mark Williams)
    13. Bells at 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes, 20 Minutes, and 30 Minutes (30:10)
    14. Two Ways of Knowing (07:06; John Teasdale)

    Biography

    John Teasdale, PhD, held a Special Scientific Appointment with the United Kingdom Medical Research Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Medical Sciences. He collaborated with Mark Williams and Zindel Segal in developing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to prevent relapse and recurrence in major depression; together, they coauthored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition (for mental health professionals), as well as the self-help guides The Mindful Way Workbook and (with Jon Kabat-Zinn) The Mindful Way through Depression. Since retiring, Dr. Teasdale has taught mindfulness and insight meditation internationally. He continues to explore and seek to understand the wider implications of mindfulness and meditation for enhancing our way of being.

    Mark Williams, DPhil, is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford, having been Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at Oxford from 2003 to 2012 and at Bangor University from 1991 to 2002. He collaborated with John Teasdale and Zindel Segal in developing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to prevent relapse and recurrence in major depression; together, they coauthored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition (for mental health professionals), as well as the self-help guides The Mindful Way Workbook and (with Jon Kabat-Zinn) The Mindful Way through Depression. Dr. Williams is also coauthor of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy with People at Risk of Suicide (for mental health professionals). He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the British Academy. Now retired, he continues to live near Oxford, to teach mindfulness to teachers-in-training across the world, and to explore, with colleagues, how mindfulness might be used in evidence-based public policy.

    Zindel Segal, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto–Scarborough. He is Director of Clinical Training in the Clinical Psychological Science Program and is also Professor in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Segal has conducted influential research into the psychological processes that make certain people more vulnerable than others to developing depression and experiencing recurrent episodes. He actively advocates for the relevance of mindfulness-based clinical care in psychiatry and mental health. He collaborated with John Teasdale and Mark Williams in developing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to prevent relapse and recurrence in major depression; together, they coauthored Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition (for mental health professionals), as well as the self-help guides The Mindful Way Workbook and (with Jon Kabat-Zinn) The Mindful Way through Depression.

    "I consider MBCT to be an effective means of preventing and treating depression and enhancing emotional well-being. This workbook gives practical advice for applying the principles of MBCT in your life. I recommend it highly."--Andrew Weil, MD, author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health and Spontaneous Happiness

    "Wisdom, illuminated and applied! We could ask for nothing more from three of the world's most gifted and caring clinicians, who provide us with a clear and practical guide to understanding and strengthening the mind. This workbook is a generous gift that can help you relieve depression and anxiety, improve your health, and enhance your way of being in the world."--Daniel J. Siegel, MD, author of Mindsight

    "Fantastic….[It] functions as a trusted friend, counselor, and guide."--from the Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD

    "What could be more fabulous than this? An evidence-based treatment for depression translated into a workbook that everyone can use. This is a treatment that has circled the globe for a reason--it works. Fortunately, the authors who translated the treatment into a workbook are the very people who developed the treatment in the first place; all three are expert clinicians and scientists. My advice: 'Try this.'"--Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, Professor and Director Emeritus, Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics, University of Washington; developer of DBT

    "Three of the world's leading authorities on psychotherapy and mindfulness have developed a workbook of great clarity and value. It outlines an easy-to-follow, step-by-step program for how to train our minds out of repetitive loops and find states of peace."--Paul Gilbert, PhD, Centre for Compassion Research and Training, University of Derby, United Kingdom

    "The strategies in this book have truly changed my life. I feel a thousand times better today than ever before. Like anyone else, I still get sad and anxious sometimes, but it happens much less frequently and I'm better equipped to deal with it. I definitely plan to continue practicing mindfulness for the long term."--Alain K.
    - The authors are leading experts in developing the scientific theories and experiential skills of how mindfulness can help to disrupt the ruminative cycle that perpetuates depression….This book is written and arranged in such a way that the layman with no prior knowledge of cognitive theory of depression can easily understand why and how MBCT can be of benefit to them….This workbook is highly recommended to anyone who is interested in MBCT for self-improvement or self-help in coping with depression, as well as to mental health professionals who want to learn mindfulness skills for personal enhancement or for teaching their own patients. I have now incorporated this workbook as a companion resource into my own practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy. My daily practice of mindfulness skills has also strengthened my personal ability to develop moment-to-moment case conceptualizations for my patient's problems during each therapeutic encounter--International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 12/30/2014