Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder – A qualitative study on patients’ experiences

The present pilot study aimed to qualitatively assess the subjective experiences of patients with OCD who participated in MBCT.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 patients suffering from OCD directly after 8 sessions of a weekly MBCT group program. Data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis.Participants valued the treatment as helpful in dealing with their OCD and OCD-related problems. Two thirds of the patients reported a decline in OCD symptoms. Benefits included an increased ability to let unpleasant emotions surface and to live more consciously in the present. However, participants also discussed several problems.The data provide preliminary evidence that patients with OCD find aspects of the current MBCT protocol acceptable and beneficial. The authors suggest to further explore MBCT as a complementary treatment strategy for OCD.“Mindfulness” can be described as a process of purposely bringing attention to moment-by-moment experience in a non-judgmental way [1]. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) [2] is a manualized 8-week group clinical intervention program combining mindfulness training with elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), developed to reduce relapse in patients who are in remission from major depressive disorder.Clinical trials of MBCT have found significant symptom reduction in patients with affective disorders and some anxiety disorders. Two recent reviews report medium effect sizes of MBCT compared to control conditions [3,4]. However, little is known about how MBCT works and whether its benefits stem from specific components of MBCT or unspecific effects of a group intervention [3].One way of exploring the effects of different components of an intervention is drawing on the subjective experience of patients who undergo the treatment. This method seems especially suitable in the field of mindfulness research, as mindfulness training particularly focuses on patients’ subjective awareness and how they experi