Submitted by la334 on Wed, 12/02/2025 - 14:57
Mindfulness for Adolescents and Carers (MAC) is Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) adapted for young people aged 15-18.
Mindfulness is about noticing what is happening in the present moment nonjudgmentally. By combining mindfulness meditation techniques with principles from cognitive therapy, MBCT teaches skills to recognise early warning signs of depression, avoid repetitive thinking patterns that make depression more likely, and respond in ways that protect mental health.
MAC is a more interactive and fun version of MBCT, designed to engage young people via questions, discussions, games and activities such as colouring or listening to music. MAC will be delivered in a group setting (up to 12 young people per group) across eight weekly sessions, each lasting for 1 hour 30-45 minutes.
We will also invite parents or carers of young people to attend MAC sessions carried out separately, but their participation is entirely OPTIONAL. Parents and carers will work through similar MAC materials to understand more about what their young person is learning so that they can support them better during their treatment.
"We can scope up those people when they have their first episode of depression", Professor Tamsin Ford told That's TV about the ATTEND study for Children's Mental Health Week, which looks at testing a new mindfulness therapy in Cambridgeshire.