A Mindfulness-Based Intervention for College Students,Faculty,and Staff: A Preliminary Investigation

Abstract

This group case study describes the course of an eight-session mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) for nonclinical, yet psychologically distressed, individuals in a university setting. The present MBI was adapted from mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which was initially developed for treatment-resistant depressed patients. The treatment rationale and its application to a university population are discussed and the protocol is described session-by-session along with the therapeutic process of change targeted in each session. Treatment feasibility, acceptance, and patient satisfaction are reviewed in consideration of outcome and process of change variables as captured by quantitative and qualitative data. The complicating factors, accessibility, and barriers of the group format, and treatment implications of MBIs are considered within the context of an ethnically diverse university sample. Furthermore, we provide recommendations for clinicians in university settings, highlighting how MBIs can be used as a transdiagnostic treatment for stress, anxiety, and depressogenic thinking in ethnically diverse populations.

Keywords

mindfulness-based intervention cognitive–behavioral treatment university diversity stress mindfulness group treatment

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