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The Application of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Pain

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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

Abstract

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is an innovative treatment approach that has been successfully adapted and applied to chronic pain conditions. Theoretically, MBCT represents a streamlined protocol designed to integrate key cognitive therapy principles with mindfulness meditation. Hence, the mechanisms of MBCT are theorized to be both a reduction in maladaptive cognitions associated with pain, such as pain catastrophizing, and a concurrent improvement in responses to pain and stress via the cultivation of mindfulness and acceptance of pain. Research on MBCT for pain is still in its infancy, but the preliminary findings are exceptionally promising and evidence suggests this approach is feasible and potentially efficacious. In order to improve our capacity to treat persistent painful conditions, it is essential that we have a variety of evidence-based interventions available, and MBCT represents an exciting additional treatment option for people with persistent pain. A key future research agenda is a need to focus on the development of patient-treatment matching algorithms such that we can successfully match individuals to those available evidence-based treatments that are most likely to be of benefit. In a time when public healthcare resources are scarce, it is paramount that we streamline and optimize our treatments in order to show the true public health value of psychological interventions for pain.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge and express my sincere appreciation for Professor Beverly Thorn, for her valued collaborations and insightful contributions in working with me to develop a line of research examining MBCT for pain.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, 330 McElwain Building, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Melissa A. Day M.A.(Clin.), Ph.D.

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  1. Melissa A. Day M.A.(Clin.), Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Melissa A. Day M.A.(Clin.), Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The UCSF Dep.Cent.,Langley Porter Psy.In, University of California, San Franc, San Francisco, California, USA

    Stuart J. Eisendrath

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Day, M.A. (2016). The Application of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Chronic Pain. In: Eisendrath, S. (eds) Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29866-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29866-5_6

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-29864-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-29866-5

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