Mindfulness interventions in outpatient cognitive behavior therapy for trainee therapists: A randomized controlled trial

• Applicant: Dr. Johannes Mander
• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 277687866

Mindfulness has its origins in a more than 2,500-year-old Eastern-Buddhist tradition. It can be conceptualized as a specific form of attention that is non-judgmental, purposeful, and focused on the present moment. In the past several decades, mindfulness has become a central component of newly developed approaches in psychotherapy. Currently, specific manualized forms of mindfulness-based approaches that are carried out in group settings, such as mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), are well established while their efficacy could be demonstrated in meta-analyses. However, studies investigating the effects of mindfulness experiences of both patients and therapists on therapeutic processes and outcome in individual psychotherapy have been requested. In this context, it has been specifically highlighted that brief, session introducing interventions with mindfulness elements should be investigated in trainee therapists under effectiveness conditions; this could elucidate opportunities to improve clinical training. Consequently, the main purpose of this study is to identify whether exercises with mindfulness elements carried out at the beginning of therapy sessions help to improve the therapeutic process. More specifically, we will examine the effects of a brief intervention with mindfulness elements, as practiced by both the outpatient and trainee therapist at the beginning of therapy sessions, on processes of therapeutic change and treatment outcome under effectiveness conditions. Thereby, before the start of the therapeutic treatment, 150 outpatients are randomized after five sessions of diagnostics either to a mindfulness intervention group (MIG), a control group (CG) practicing a short form of progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), or a treatment as usual (TAU) group. One important outcome variable will be the Scale for the Multiperspective Assessment of General Change Mechanisms in Psychotherapy (SACiP), which we developed, validated and for which we demonstrated the clinical utility in several process-outcome studies. Results of this study will not only address major research gaps in the scientific literature but also could have important practical implications, as our intervention with mindfulness elements might inform new ideas of how to improve the formation of psychotherapists in outpatient training centers.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Co-Investigators: Professor Dr. Sven Barnow; Dr. Hinrich Bents
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Christoph Flückiger; Professor Dr. Thomas Heidenreich; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Lutz