Synopsis of Video Lecture

Depression is a mental health problem that negatively affects how one feels, thinks,
and acts. It is a major health problem that affects hundreds of millions of people in the world.
This paper reviews a video lecture of Dr. Stuart Eisendrath about mindfulness-based
cognitive therapy (MBCT). Dr. Eisendrath is the director of the UCSF Depression Center and
Professor of Clinical Psychiatry. The review will provide a general background of the
MBCT, the key points that Dr. Eisendrath in the lecture, and my personal opinion of the
presentation.

General Background

In the video lecture, Dr. Stuart Eisendrath focuses on the resurgence of mindfulness-
based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an alternative strategy for treating people suffering from
depression (UCTV, 2012). As its name suggests, MBCT combines mindfulness strategies
with cognitive behavioral techniques to help individuals understand as well as manage their
emotions and thoughts in order to help them to achieve relief from stressful feelings.
According to Dr. Stuart, the technique was originally only used to treat people suffering from
recurrent depression. However, over the past 10-15 years, the technique is increasingly being
used to treat many other mental as well as physical health problems where it has proven to be
effective (UCTV, 2012). Some of the mental and physical health problems that MBCT can be
used to treat include addiction, anxiety, eating disorders, and chronic pain (UCTV, 2012).
The way MBCT is practiced is that patients are taken through an eight-week group course.
The course includes daily meditation, and formal and informal mindfulness practices that
include mindfulness eating and mindfulness stretching (UCTV, 2012). By facilitating

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individuals to focus on the present, MBCT helps them to stop rumination, and advances their
metacognition and self-compassion.

Key Points

MBCT was originally developed as a strategy to prevent clients from relapsing into
depression (UCTV, 2012). It has since developed into a top strategy for fighting depression.
According to Dr. Eisendrath, depression is an illness that is time-based. Persons suffering
from depression often focus on the past or future and neglect their present. Additionally,
depressed individuals usually harbor negative thoughts which they may come to view over
time as representing reality (UCTV, 2012). Thus, a major way of helping depressed
individuals fight their condition is to help them focus on the present. That is what MBCT
does. It not only helps persons suffering from depression to focus on the present rather than
the past or the future, but also helps them to differentiate between reality or facts and their
thoughts (UCTV, 2012). In doing so, it helps them to combat their depression.

Dr. Eisendrath also examines the differences between MCBT and other techniques of
fighting depression as well as its relative effectiveness. For instance, with regards to the
differences between MCBT and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Dr. Eisendrath explains
that while CBT makes rigorous efforts in identifying negative beliefs and thoughts, MBCT
places relatively little emphasis on the client’s negative or positive thoughts. Additionally,
CBT promotes a new way of looking at challenging circumstances and painful affect while
MCBT promotes a new way of being with challenging circumstances and painful affect
(UCTV, 2012).

Opinion

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After watching the video, I would definitely recommend it to my peers who are
interested in alternative strategies of treating depression. Not only does Dr. Eisendrath
excellently provide an overview of MBCT, he also presents current evidence that supports the
effectiveness of MBCT in treating depression. Granted, CBT has proven to be an effective
strategy of treating depression. However, there are instances where CBT may not be
effective. Such instances include treating individuals who have relapsed or are prone to
relapsing. In such instances, MBCT is a more effective alternative to CBT.

Apart from the content of the video, I also liked Dr. Eisendrath’s style of presentation.
He strived to involve the audience in the presentation through frequently asking them
questions. He also used a lot of anecdotes from his personal experiences to strengthen the
authenticity of his message.

The only weakness I found in the presentation was Dr. Eisendrath’s lack of in-depth
analysis of the differences between MCBT and CBT. The differences he provided were not
explained well to bring out a clear picture of what separates the two strategies. However,
despite this weakness, I believe that on the whole Dr. Eisendrath did an excellent job at
explaining MCBT and its role in treating depressed individuals.

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References

University of California Television (UCTV). (2012, May 31). Applying mindfulness-based
cognitive therapy to treatment [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eQ3MWz4yrI