Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The proposed intervention is mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), based on the protocol published by Segal, Williams and Teasdale. MBCT consists of eight weekly 2.5h group sessions, a six-hour silent day and daily home practice assignments guided by audio files. The program includes both formal and informal meditation exercises. Cognitive techniques include monitoring and scheduling of activities, identification of negative automatic thoughts and devising a relapse prevention plan. Psycho-education and interactive dialogue typically focus on stress management, balancing activities, and (lifestyle) strategies to stay well in the future (relapse prevention).

Treatment as usual (TAU) according Dutch and European IBD treatment guidelines. TAU focuses on pharmacological and surgical disease control, and prevention of complications.