February 08, 2006
Mindfulness-based therapy in Time Magazine:
Time magazine talks to psychologist Steven Hayes in an article about the development of 'Acceptance and Commitment Therapy' - an increasingly popular treatment for mental disorder.
I'm not familiar with the name, but it seems to be a form of mindfulness-based therapy, originally developed by a team at Cambridge University, inspired by Buddhist meditation techniques, and known to be highly effective in treating depression.
The article contains a summary of both ACT and the current most popular and most evaluated form of psychological therapy: cognitive behaviour therapy or CBT.
The Time article is a little overzealous in its enthusiasm, suggesting that ACT outperformed CBT when applied to a wide range of mental disorders, when, in fact, Hayes himself wrote an encouraging but balanced review article in which he stated "there are not enough well-controlled studies to conclude that ACT is generally more effective than other active treatments".
Nevertheless, the article is an interesting insight into Hayes himself, and a good account of some of the core principles behind modern psychological treatments for mental illness.
Link to article 'Happiness isn't normal'.
Link to information on mindfulness-baded therapy from Oxford University.
