Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Perinatal Women With Mood Disorders

This is an 8-week treatment for women with mood disorders. The focus of sessions 1 through 4 is to establish a foundation of mindfulness practice and bringing nonjudgmental awareness to the present moment, beginning with concrete targets of attention and moves to more emotionally challenging and abstract targets (e.g., depression-specific thoughts). Participants are guided to become aware of the automatic patterns of their minds and in such moments to return attention to thoughts, feelings and body sensations. Participants engage experientially with the ways in which thoughts and emotions become engaged with rumination. In sessions 5 through 8, participants learn to extend their basic mindfulness skills to become aware of relapse risk signs and develop prevention plans.