Understanding MBCT and the eight-week programme
Learn what an eight-week MBCT programme involves, how individual work differs and what choices and support you can discuss before taking part.
Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed
Assign and Download open signup, then return you to this worksheet. No card required. Resource access depends on your plan or trial. Already have an account? Sign in
Worksheet preview
Understanding MBCT and the eight-week programme
PreviewLive preview — type in any field to try it. Nothing is saved here.
What the approach is for
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale. It was first developed for people who have had depression more than once and are now feeling better. It combines learning about depression with learning to notice experience. A small dip in mood can pull us into familiar loops of brooding, self-criticism or withdrawal. MBCT helps you recognise these patterns early and respond with care. It is not a test of calmness, and it cannot promise that depression will not come back.
A programme or individual work?
A full MBCT programme usually brings a group together for weekly sessions over eight weeks, led by a trained teacher. It includes guided practice, discussion and practice at home. Many programmes begin with an individual meeting about suitability and what to expect. Individual MBCT-informed work uses selected ideas within your own therapy plan. This handout, or any set of worksheets, is not the same as a full programme. It does not replace assessment, trained teaching or mental health care. Ask which kind of support you are being offered.
How the eight weeks build
Weeks 1 and 2 explore how often we run on automatic pilot and get caught up in thinking. Weeks 3 and 4 help you steady your attention and notice how you react to difficulty. Weeks 5 and 6 explore allowing unwanted experiences, and seeing thoughts as events in the mind rather than facts or commands. Weeks 7 and 8 link your personal warning signs to helpful action, and plan ongoing practice and support. This is a summary of themes. Your teacher explains the programme and any changes to it.
Learning through experience and discussion
Practice provides experiences to explore together. Inquiry means a curious conversation about what you noticed, rather than judging whether you did it correctly. A full programme usually asks for home practice on most days between sessions. Ask how much time is expected before you decide. Agree what is manageable, and talk about barriers without blame. Success is not measured by minutes, stillness or feeling relaxed. Noticing a thought does not mean ignoring a real problem. Practical action and asking for help still matter.
Choice, adaptation and difficulty
Eyes open, focusing on sounds or something you can see, movement, shorter practice and declining are all valid options. Breath focus, body attention, closed eyes and stillness are not compulsory. Tell your teacher if practice increases distress, brings back frightening memories or makes you feel unreal. Pause and ask for a review if difficulties persist; do not push harder. Talk to your clinician about marked low mood, seeing or hearing things others do not, or unusually high energy with little need for sleep, so support can be adapted.
Questions and support
This worksheet is for feelings you can manage. If you have urges to hurt yourself, or you feel unsafe, use your safety plan if you have one and tell your therapist. If you might act on the urges, call 999 or go to A&E. To talk to someone now, call Samaritans free on 116 123.
Try it here — nothing you type is saved. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.
When to use ‘Understanding MBCT and the eight-week programme’
‘Understanding MBCT and the eight-week programme’ is a psychoeducation handout based on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), for work with depression and low mood. Consider this resource when exploring recurring patterns of low mood and how a client notices thoughts and feelings, particularly within relapse prevention work for recurrent depression.
It is designed to be read within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it and discusses it with the client. You can preview the full handout above, then assign it for clients to read between sessions on any device or download it as a print-ready PDF. Where a short reflection is included, it offers space to respond to the reading.
How it works
Most people work through it in around 10 minutes. It moves through six short sections to read:
- What the approach is for: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) was developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams and John Teasdale. It was first developed for…
- A programme or individual work? A full MBCT programme usually brings a group together for weekly sessions over eight weeks, led by a trained teacher. It includes guided…
- How the eight weeks build: Weeks 1 and 2 explore how often we run on automatic pilot and get caught up in thinking. Weeks 3 and 4 help you steady your attention and…
- Learning through experience and discussion: Practice provides experiences to explore together. Inquiry means a curious conversation about what you noticed, rather than judging whether…
- Choice, adaptation and difficulty: Eyes open, focusing on sounds or something you can see, movement, shorter practice and declining are all valid options. Breath focus, body…
- Questions and support: This worksheet is for feelings you can manage. If you have urges to hurt yourself, or you feel unsafe, use your safety plan if you have one…
The handout can be read on a phone, tablet or computer, or downloaded as a print-ready PDF. If it includes a reflection, answers entered on the Formulate platform are saved automatically and shared back with the therapist for review before the next session.
The MBCT approach behind it
‘Understanding MBCT and the eight-week programme’ draws on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT). MBCT draws on mindfulness practice and cognitive therapy, with a focus on relapse prevention for recurrent depression. It invites clients to notice thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without becoming caught up in them. The emphasis is on recognising familiar patterns as they arise and exploring how to respond, rather than treating every thought as a fact or instruction.
It is intended as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis. The therapist can help decide how it fits the work and discuss what emerges.
Evidence & sources
This handout draws on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Key sources include:
- Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. G., & Teasdale, J. D. (2013). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. Guilford Press.
- Williams, M., Teasdale, J., Segal, Z., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (2007). The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. Guilford Press.
- Kuyken, W., Warren, F. C., Taylor, R. S., et al. (2016). Efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in prevention of depressive relapse: An individual patient data meta-analysis from randomized trials. JAMA Psychiatry, 73(6), 565-574.
For use alongside professional support
Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.
If you need urgent help now:
- Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- NHS 111 (NHS 24 in Scotland): 111 — choose the mental health option for urgent help, in England, Scotland and Wales (in Wales, press 2)
- Lifeline: 0808 808 8000 — for urgent help in Northern Ireland, free, day or night
- Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
- Shout: 85258 — text SHOUT, free, day or night
- SANEline: 0300 304 7000 — 4pm–10pm, every day
More Depression worksheets
View all Depression worksheets →Depression
Depression formulation (Beck's cognitive model)
Map how early experiences, core beliefs, rules for living, a critical incident and the cycle that keeps low mood going fit together, using Beck's cognitive model of depression.
Depression
Activity monitoring diary
Record what you do and your mood, one entry a day, to see which activities go with a better or lower mood. Simplified from Greenberger and Padesky (2016), Worksheets 13.4 and 13.5: it rates overall mood from 0 to 10, not one chosen mood from 0 to 100, and leaves out the planning question.
Depression
Behavioural activation schedule
Plan activities for the week, then rate how enjoyable each one was, how much of an achievement it felt, and your mood. Based on the activity schedule in Greenberger and Padesky (2016), Worksheet 13.6: it adds ratings of pleasure and mastery, rates mood from 0 to 10 rather than 0 to 100, and adds a weekly review.
Depression
Downward arrow worksheet
Follow an upsetting thought down to the belief underneath it by asking "what would that mean?" again and again. Based on Greenberger and Padesky (2016): the downward arrow question, with an added feeling rating at the start and end, and a closing check.
Depression
Core belief worksheet
Pick one core belief, rate how strongly you hold it, weigh the experiences for and against it, and write a more balanced belief. Based on Greenberger and Padesky (2016), Worksheets 12.5 to 12.7 (a new belief and its 0 to 100 rating): rating the old belief, and weighing and reframing the experiences behind it, are added.
Depression
Rumination functional analysis
Track times you get caught up going over things, and look at what sets them off, what you hoped they would do, what they cost you and what might help instead. Based on Martell, Dimidjian and Herman-Dunn (2010): a functional analysis of each episode, with an alternative to try added.
Want to assign this to a client?
Create a free therapist account to use the homework and library download tools. Clients can complete assigned homework online or use a blank PDF. See how the homework workflow works.
No card required. The Free plan includes 10 worksheet uses a month. Check plan access and limits.