Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

The course is offered by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre at the Department of Psychiatry, in collaboration with the Department for Continuing Education.

The course offers an opportunity for in-depth learning and aims to foster a community of practitioners with the expertise to deliver high-quality MBCT in clinical and other appropriate healthcare and educational settings, and who will contribute to the development and dissemination of MBCT.

The course is organised in nine three- or four-day teaching blocks (held in Oxford) and three residential training retreats. In addition to the taught component, you will need to set aside six to seven hours per week for private study, personal practice related to MBCT, and completion of written assignments. The teaching is mostly highly interactive and experiential, and weaves together personal practice, theory/research and clinical applications.

The course addresses the theoretical basis of MBCT, including relevant aspects of cognitive and clinical psychology, as well as aspects of Buddhist psychology and philosophy on which MBCT draws. It also provides opportunities for students to develop the practical skills they need in order to translate knowledge and understanding into competent MBCT teaching; that is, students are expected to develop for themselves the understanding and skills they will be teaching to patients.

Students should also be prepared to design and deliver a course of MBCT to an appropriate client group in their own place of work, with supervision from course tutors.

The course covers four main topic areas:

• theory, including relevant cognitive science (eg attention, memory, judgement, metacognition, executive function), clinical theory (eg cognitive theories of the development and maintenance of emotional disorder and the principles underlying MBCT), and relevant aspects of Buddhist psychology and philosophy and their contribution to MBCT;
• research related to the ongoing development of MBCT, and investigating the areas of theory outlined above;
• clinical applications in a range of problem areas, for example, depression, pain and psychosis; and
• practice including the development of personal experience of mindfulness meditation through exploring the MBCT course experientially as a participant and building on this, the capacity to relate this experience to theory and research, and the skills needed to instruct patients/clients in MBCT, drawing on relevant theory, research and clinical literature.

To complete the MSt in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, you will need to:

• complete two 4,000-word essays, demonstrating the capacity to critically appraise theory, research and clinical literature relevant to MBCT (Year 1)
• complete a 4,000-word reflective analysis of personal meditation practice as related to cognitive science and Buddhist psychology (Year 2)
• complete a 4,000-word assignment describing the development, delivery and evaluation of a programme of MBCT suitable for your client group, along with appropriate instructional materials (Year 2). Please note that the programme does not offer placements; students must provide a relevant setting in which to deliver the course project on which the project is written.
• submit recordings of MBCT classes (Year 2)
• submit a dissertation of no more than 10,000 words on a topic selected by you (Year 2).

Year 1

The first year of the course is designed to develop student’s knowledge of theory and research, and to use this as a foundation for the development of their own mindfulness meditation practice. Teaching in MBCT will commence towards the end of the first year. During each block, we will cover:

• developing a personal mindfulness meditation practice via direct experience of the 8-week MBCT programme. This includes opportunities for reflection, and a requirement for regular meditation practice between teaching blocks;
• the Buddhist roots of MBCT;
• mindfulness meditation in practice;
• cognitive and clinical science
• beginning to teach MBCT.

Residential training retreats

The 4-day retreat in January focuses on the practice of mindfulness meditation and considers its relevance to MBCT. The 7-day training retreat offers an intensive opportunity to deepen personal practice and to practise teaching elements of MBCT with immediate feedback from other participants and from instructors.

Year 2

The second year covers the theory and practice of applying MBCT with different client groups, and equips students with the knowledge and skills they need to become competent MBCT instructors. The themes are:

• becoming an MBCT instructor
• clinical applications: theory and practice
• Buddhist foundations for application of mindfulness

Residential training retreat

This 7-day retreat focuses on intensive practice of mindfulness meditation.

Teaching sessions and training retreats will be led by practitioners experienced in mindfulness-based approaches, mostly from Oxford.

The allocation of graduate tutoring for this course is the responsibility of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff. A supervisor for the teaching project may be found outside the core staff team.

Most part-time students commencing this programme are already in employment. The MSt aims to equip practitioners with the expertise to deliver high quality MBCT to patients and other groups, the fluency to critically gauge its theoretical basis and empirical evidence base, and to disseminate and develop the design and practice of MBCT.

Changes to this course and your supervision

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out in this course page. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision, either before or after registration. In certain circumstances, for example due to visa difficulties or because the health needs of students cannot be met, it may be necessary to make adjustments to course requirements for international study.

Where possible your academic supervisor will not change for the duration of your course. However, it may be necessary to assign a new academic supervisor during the course of study or before registration for reasons which might include sabbatical leave, parental leave or change in employment.

For further information, please see our page on changes to courses.

Other courses you may wish to consider

If you're thinking about applying for this course, you may also wish to consider the courses listed below. These courses may have been suggested due to their similarity with this course, or because they are offered by the same department or faculty.

All graduate courses in this area offered by the Department of Continuing Education

Cognitive Behavioural Studies PGCert

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy MSc

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy PGDip

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy PGCert

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy DPhil

Continuing Education DPhil

Enhanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy PGCert

Evidence Based Health Care (Medical Statistics) MSc

Evidence Based Health Care (Systematic Reviews) MSc

Evidence-Based Health Care DPhil

Evidence-Based Health Care MSc

Experimental and Translational Therapeutics MSc

Health Research PGDip

Health Research PGCert

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy MSt

Paediatric Infectious Diseases MSc

Paediatric Infectious Diseases PGDip

Patient Safety PGCert

Psychodynamic Counselling PGCert

Psychodynamic Practice MSt

Psychodynamic Practice PGDip

Qualitative Health Research Methods PGCert

Surgical Science and Practice MSc

Teaching Evidence-Based Health Care PGCert

Translational Health Sciences MSc

All graduate courses offered by the Department of Psychiatry

Clinical and Therapeutic Neuroscience MSc

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy MSt

Psychiatry DPhil

Psychiatry MSc by Research

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Entry requirements