A Conceptual Model for the Development of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Improving Self-confidence
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Over the last forty years, health professionals have used Buddhist Mindfulnessbased meditation practices together with Cognitive Therapeutic counseling in order to treat a
range of human psycho-physical and social problems. Two examples of these endeavors are
Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed in the 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn at
the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, and Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
(MBCT), developed by John Teasdale, Mark Williams and Zindel Segal at Cambridge,
England, in 1991. Mindfulness-based psychotherapeutic techniques are now studied and
used in universities, hospitals, clinics, businesses, and households all over the world, and
the real effectiveness and conceptual basis of such practices have come under increasingly
rigorous scrutiny.
Some researchers have observed that some studies of mindfulness-based therapeutic
tools were done following unsound methodologies and that the negative effects of
mindfulness-based therapies on some individuals have been poorly researched or ignored.
Others discuss the difficulties in understanding what is really going on when mindfulness
and cognitive therapy are used together in the laboratory and are used to alleviate human mental, physical and social maladies. However, there is plenty of evidence to show that
MBSR and MBCT do provide proven (and often life-changing) assistance to people with
certain types of problems. For example, MBCT was found to be effective for preventing
relapses of depressive episodes among those who had experienced three or more major
depressive disorder episodes, according to a 2016 meta-analysis.
The author of this paper is particularly interested in applying mindfulness-based
psychotherapeutic tools to the challenge of helping people to significantly improve their
self-confidence, a challenge that he believes are worthwhile and on the basis of evidence, a
promising one. The thesis of this paper is to provide a conceptual analysis of the research
path. More specifically, the thesis of the paper is to show that the concept of MBCT (which
consists in the combination of the concept of mindfulness-based meditation and the concept
of cognitive therapy) can be used to improve our conceptualization of the mental health
problem of low self-confidence and its improvement. In this paper, low self-confidence is
considered to be a mental disorder.
Article Details
Views and opinions expressed in the articles published by The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (JIABU), are of responsibility by such authors but not the editors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors.
References
Aṅguttara Nikāya. R. Morris (ed.). Vol I – V. Oxford: PTS, 1985 – 1995.
Beck, Judith."Questions and Answers about Cognitive Therapy". Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research. Retrieved April15th 2018, http://www.chestercountypsychology.com/pdf.
Bishop Scott et al., “Mindfulness: A Proposed Operational Definition,” Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice. Vol. 11, No. 3. (Fall 2004): 232.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu. “The Connected Discourses of the Buddha,” A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. USA: Wisdom Publications, 2000.
Bolton, Derek. What is Mental Disorder? An Essay in Philosophy, Science, and Values. Oxford: OUP, 2008).
Cook, Joanna. Mind the Gap”, in ‘Buddhism and Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, p. x.
Crane, Rebecca. Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy - Distinctive Features. New York: Routledge, 2009.
Davids, Rhys, M.A. (Tr.). The Book of the Kindred Sayings (Saṃyutta Nikāya). Vol I. London: Pāli Text Society, Oxford University Press, 1993.
Davids. Rhys. M. and CAF. A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics. London: PTS, 1900.
Dīgha Nikāya. T. W. Rhys Davids and Carpenter (ed.). Vol I – II. Oxford: Pāli Text Society, 1982 – 1995.
Dreyfus Georges. 2010 ‘Is Mindfulness Present-Centered and Nonjudgmental? A Discussion of the Cognitive Dimensions of Mindfulness.’ Retrieved accessed March 10th 2018, https://info- buddhism.com/Mindfulness_Present-Centered_Nonjudgmental-Attention_Introspection-A-Discussion_Dreyfus.html.
Edelglass, William. Buddhism, Happiness and the Science of Meditation in Buddhism and Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Farias, Miguel and Wikholm, Catherine. Has the science of mindfulness lost its mind? BJ Psych Bull: Vol. 40, No.6 (2016 Dec): 329–332.
Gervais, Michael. “How to Build Self-Confidence”, Retrieved on May 9th, 2018. https://www.kidsinthehouse.com/all-parents/parenting/building-self-esteem/how-build-self-confidence.
Gethin Rupert. (1992), The Buddhist Path to Awakening: A Study of the Bodhi-Pakkhiȳa Dhammā. Leiden and New York: BRILL's Indological Library, Vol 7 (1992).
Joseph, Ivan. “The Skill of Self Confidence by Dr. Ivan Joseph”, Retrieved on April 12th, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-HYZv6HzAs.
Judge, Tomothy; Erez, Amir; Bono, Joyce ; and Thoresen, Carl. "Are measures of self-esteem, neuroticism, locus of control, and generalized self-efficacy indicators of a common core construct?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Volume , No. 3. ( January 2002): 693–710.
Kalupahana, David. The Principles of Buddhist Psychology. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1992.
Kuyken Wilhelm et al., (27). “Efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy in Prevention of Depressive Relapse”. JAMA Psychiatry. Vol. 73 (April 2016). p.565.
Locander, William and Hermann, Peter. "The Effect of Self-Confidence and Anxiety on Information Seeking in Consumer Risk Reduction", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 16, No.2 (1979): 268–274.
Lundberg, Karen M, ‘Promoting Self-self-confidence in Clinical Nursing Students’. Nurse Educator. Volume 33. Issue 2 (March-April 2008): p 86-89.
Luszczynska Aleksandra and Schwarzerin Ralf , Social Cognitive Theory, in M. Conner & P. Norman (Eds.), Predicting Health Behaviour, (Buckingham, England: Open University Press, 2005), 2nd ed. rev., pp. 127-169).
Majjhima Nikāya. Trenker (ed.). Vol I. V. Oxford: PTS, 1993.
MBCT Official Website, Your Guide to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. Retrieved on 28 Feb 2018, http://mbct.com
McMahan, David. How Meditation Works, in Buddhism and Science Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Mind for Better Health, “How to improve your Self-esteem”: Retrieved 16th April 2018, https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/self-esteem/#.WtR3lC5ubIV.
Műller, F. Max. (Tr.). Dhammapada. Oxford: Pāli Text Society, 1898.
Myers Gerald (ed), William James Writings: 1878–1899, The Library of America Edition, pp. 500-501.
Ñānamoli, Bhikkhu (Tr.). The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga). The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, 2009.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, and Bodhi, Bhikkhu (Tr.). The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (Majjhima Nikāya). Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society,1995.
Nyanatiloka Ven., Buddhist Dictionary: A Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2015.
Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved on 7 March, 2018. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition.
Saṃyutta Nikāya. M. Leon Feer (ed.). Oxford: PTS, 1991.
Stefan G Hofmann et al., "The Empirical Status of the "New Wave" of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy". Psychiatric Clinics of North America. Vol.33, No. 3 (2010): 701– 10.
Stein Dan et al., “What is a Mental/Psychiatric Disorder? From DSM-IV to DSM-V.” Psychological Medicine, Volume 40 (2010). No.1: 1759–1765.
Wallace, Alan B. The Attention Revolution: Unlocking the Power of the Focussed Mind. (Somerville: Wisdom Publication, 2006).
Walsh, Maurice (Tr.). The Long Discourses of the Buddha, A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1987.
Zellner, Miriam. “Self-esteem, reception, and influenceability.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Vol. 15, No. 1(19070): 87-93.