Marty L. Cooper, MFT
4831 Geary Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94118
martycooper@mlcooper.com
www.mlcooper.com
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Greetings!
Greetings to you all in what is now spring, not just in San Francisco, but throughout the country!
The article in this issue of Tame Your Mood focuses in on what strikes me, as I get ready to teach MBCT classes in June (see below), as a vital question: how to actively engage depression in a way that's not counter-productive. Because as important as the work of mindfulness is, there's much to be said in being active with depression.
So below are some thoughts about this question that I hope will be useful. I always appreciate hearing your thoughts in return.
Best wishes,
Marty
p.s. MBCT classes begin their 8 week runs on June 12th and June 14th. |
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Getting the "Penthouse": Experimentation vs. Success
As I've been preparing for the next series of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT) classes (see below), my thoughts have gone to the subject of "taking action" within the context of a class which stresses heavily acceptance and non-resistance of the experience of depression. It's an important issues, especially for a therapist like myself who stresses the aspect of mindfulness as a general principle of effective therapy (not the sole cause, maybe not even the most important, but pretty useful at least...).
Cognitive therapy and MBCT
The "CT" part of MBCT differs a great deal from conventional cognitive therapy in that MBCT stresses the attitude or relationship to thoughts, rather than the analysis and change of thoughts. In other words, in traditional cognitive therapy, you may be plagued by a thought that says, "I'm worthless." The way you would be encouraged to deal with it would be to write down the thought, it's intensity, refutations of the thought ("Well, I do valuable work, I try to live with integrity"), and then replace them with more rational thought (such as, "I believe value comes from how one treats others, and I honestly try to treat others with kindness, though I'm not always successful").
MBCT has instead not focused on defining and isolating "negative" thoughts, but instead looks at thoughts of any type as mere thoughts, as expressions of a process of mind whether the result is positive, negative or neutral. It also suggests that the value of even conventional cognitive therapy may come more from the inherent distancing and dis-identification that happens in the slow act of writing down thoughts and chewing on them, than from the act of isolating and extracting the negative thought.
The "action" that MBCT teaches is to respond to thought with an attitude of curious observation, which itself is a radical departure from an attitude of struggle. The insight, which I agree with, is that the attempt to control our experience is a huge reason why we feel stuck and suffer.
The Question...
So. Be that as it may, the question still stands: what is the usefulness of taking action in relation to our, especially difficult, experience?
I remember from a meditation retreat, many years back, a student approaching the teacher to ask her question. "Can you both be a meditator and still want that pent house apartment?" The teacher, a very senior person within his tradition, said, "Oh, yes, go ahead and take action to get that apartment. Just practice not being attached to the results."
Taking actions without being attached to results. The same is true for working with depression and anxiety, and the "attachment to results" part accounts for a lot of the suffering in trying to manage these moods.
Experimentation and Fear
In the MBCT class, experimentation is strongly encouraged as a base, or principle, out of which the techniques or practices of the class should come. Why? Because when you are in an experimental mode, you are generally not attached to the outcome. It's more like, "Huh, when I add the blue and the red dyes, they don't make yellow. Ok, so now I know if I want yellow, I have to mix different colors." In other words, experimentation preceded learning.
The other approach, clinging to results, puts one less in a learning mode, and much more in a survival mode. Experimentation is taking action (mixing up dyes in a lab) towards learning new information. Survival is about not being destroyed. And the "protocols" of these different modes are very, well, different.
There was an experiment done with college students (referred to by the MBCT writers on their audio book) which went like this: two sets of students were given pieces of paper on which was printed a maze. In the center of the maze was a mouse, and their task was to trace the path for their mouse to get to the exit of the maze. However, one group had a chunk of cheese at the exit, the other group had a hawk.
What the researchers found was that, even though this was an exercise without any real world results (it was a paper maze, with a doodle of a mouse and cheese and hawk), nonetheless the "hawk" group performed poorer. Why? Their conclusion was that the students anticipating a dangerous finale to their task were working out of a survival mode rather than a pleasure-based. That is, out of fear.
So if you engage in practices or techniques that are crafted to lessen depression, but you take action from a fear mode or attitude of "the results determine whether I survive," then it is very difficult to learn what actually works for you because you cannot risk experimentation, and not experimenting means you're going to really struggle to learn.
Where, then, you derive the sense of safety in order to take these risks is for another newsletter (short answer: allowing yourself to trust selected people), but my main point here is that taking action is not in conflict with the observational mode of mindfulness, and that in fact mindfulness teaches a stance of curiosity which is the base of effective action-taking.
As applied to depression and anxiety, I think what the meditation teacher would say is: You can take active steps towards peace and joy, but that peace and joy is more a product of experimentation than of "success." |
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About the MBCT Class
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (MBCT) is a combination of mindfulness meditation practice and "thought-noticing" techniques derived from cognitive therapy. Both emphasize a stance of curiosity and acceptance, a way of watching one's own experience that helps short circuit the tendency to ruminate on depression, a tendency that gives depression its heavy, "stuck" quality. MBCT is centered on the understanding that reigning in depression depends not so much on controlling the symptoms, as finding a more accepting relationship to the raw experience.
The class will help students:
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Learn, through direct experience, about the working of the mind and your particular vulnerabilities to depression
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To notice when they are getting caught in old thought patterns, and practice ways of releasing yourself from these habits.
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To practice a different way of relating to themselves and the world.
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Learn to let go of the struggle or combat with themselves that contributes to and sustains depression.
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To practice acceptance of one's self and the world, rather than judgment/despair and self-criticism.
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Learn to notice and savor the small moments of pleasure which typically are clouded by depression.
Who Benefits?
Research on the outcomes of MBCT classes show that those who have experienced one major depression have a 50% chance of suffering another, with he rate increasing to 70-80% for those who have had 2 or more episodes.
MBCT was created to address this high chance of relapse that exists for those suffering from chronic depression. Studies have shown that after the 8 week course, students in and MBCT class suffered relapse at about half the expected (typical) rate.
Logistics
For more information, see www.mbctsf.com.
The fee for the class is $350 plus $30 for book and cds.
The workshop will be held at 4831 Geary Blvd., in the Inner Richmond District of San Francisco.
Please call: (415) 835-2162, or email martycooper@mlcooper.com, to reserve a space. |
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Online Articles
Past articles can be found at my articles page by clicking here. |
About Marty
Marty Cooper is a San Francisco psychotherapist who helps individuals
struggling with anxiety and depression to not only manage these "wild
moods," but eventually learn how to overcome them. His background in
both Western approaches to healing, as well as Eastern mindfulness
practices (meditation) give a wide range of perspectives and techniques to bring to the work of taming mood.
Marty's passion arises out of his
deep understanding of how painful anxiety and depression can be, and
his wish to help others learn how to avoid overwhelm, as well as to
find meaning in experience that can otherwise at times just seem pointless.
Joy, connection, and a life not ruled by fear are all truly possible.
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EMDR
So, what is EMDR? EMDR stands for "Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing," and is an extremely effective, evidence-based, way of working with trauma, that can lead to a full recovery from post traumatic symptoms, in some cases within a few sessions. Even very old, entrenched sufferings can be loosened and removed. People really do experience freedom from beliefs and pains that have pained them for decades.
But EMDR is also effective for clearing old memories that are not overt traumas. For instance, issues such as phobias, stuck patterns in relationships, general anxiety and depression, all can be helped with the targeted use of EMDR. Sometimes, because of the more "systemic" quality of these issues, more time and sessions are needed, but the results can still be remarkable and deep.
If you are interested in more information, you can look at the information on my website (click here), or feel free to give me a call.
(For a fuller introduction to EMDR, Transforming Trauma by Laurel Parnell, is a great place to start. Click here.)
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Services
I offer psychotherapy to those who are wanting to learn deeper and more effective management strategies for their anxiety and depression, as well those who wish to find out how to overcome these wild moods. I work comprehensively with mental, emotional, bodily, and spiritual dimensions, all of which are necessary to overcome the chronic quality of anxiety and depression.
If
you are looking to make changes that last, then please call me and set up an initial phone consultation, so we can see if or how I can best be of service.
Marty L. Cooper, MFT
415.835.2162
martycooper@mlcooper.com
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