What is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T)?
By Michael J. Tumminia
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T)
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T; Biegel, 2017; Biegel et al., 2009, 2014) is a mindfulness training program for adolescents adapted from the traditional Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR; Kabat-Zinn, 1982) program designed for adults. The MBSR-T program (also known as the Stressed Teens program) was created in 2004 by Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT. Similar to the traditional MBSR program for adults, MBSR-T is a secular adaptation of mindfulness practices rooted in Eastern meditation traditions. However, MBSR-T specifically draws on developmental theory by taking into account the rapidly changing cognitive and emotional capacities of teens and is influenced by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002).
The MBSR-T program — offered both in-person or online by trained professionals — acknowledges the unique challenges adolescents face ranging from intrapersonal (e.g., attention, emotions, impulsivity) to interpersonal (e.g., social skills) to performance-based challenges (e.g., confidence, self-efficacy, procrastination). In order to more skillfully and adaptively confront these challenges, teens are taught fundamental skills of mindfulness, such as the cultivation of awareness of senses, thoughts, and feelings from moment to moment, as well as the development of positive coping skills. Teens learn to intentionally direct their attention toward self-care and aspects of experience that are positive and nourishing, rather than negative and depleting. As a result, teens discover how to become aware of thoughts versus reacting to them, discern between caring versus worrying, and ultimately bring mindful attention and orientation to daily life to manage emotions better and demonstrate more prosocial behaviors.
“The MBSR-T program — offered both in-person or online by trained professionals — acknowledges the unique challenges adolescents face ranging from intrapersonal to interpersonal to performance-based challenges.”
Course Format: The MBSR-T program is available to adolescents, families, or schools and is offered both online and in person. The in-person program is offered in eight 90-minute weekly sessions. During the 8-week course, teens use the mindfulness tools and techniques to intentionally focus attention and observe their own emotions and behaviors from moment to moment. The online MBSR-T program is offered in 4, 90-minute weekly sessions. Each class typically starts with a ‘mindful check-in’ where youth can share highs and lows for the week, review practices from previous weeks, and have the opportunity to ask the instructors questions. This is followed by discussing the topics for the week followed by the assignment of ‘On-Your-Own-Practices’ (OYOPs) for youth to work on outside of the group.
Instructor Requirements: An in-depth 10-week training of the MBSR-T program has been developed for professionals (e.g., counselors, educators, nurses, physicians, psychologists, social workers) interested in helping stressed adolescents find clarity and relief from stress based on their direct experience supporting teens during this inherently challenging time of life. Each week instructor trainees will receive 3 hours of online training that includes but is not limited to training with the creator of Stressed Teens, Gina Biegel MA, LMFT, and experiential group practices geared toward honing skills to teach mindfulness-based practices with teens. Trainees learn how to facilitate present moment awareness of pleasant and unpleasant experiences, utilize positive coping strategies, build mindful relationships, and incorporate mindfulness based solutions and mindful living into daily life. Lessons ranging from positive neuroplasticity to the foundations, history, and research of the MBSR-T program are delivered through the weekly curriculum, among others.
Course Outcomes: The MBSR-T program does not claim to be a cure-all or silver bullet for the numerous psychosocial challenges teens may endure. There are, however, a host of potential benefits that include but are not limited to the following: improved emotion regulation and metacognition (e.g., awareness of one’s thinking), realistic shifts in perceptions and appraisals of stress, decreases in stress, improved overall mental and physical health and well-being, increased sense of control, insight into the sources of strength that come from within, decreases in negative coping skills, and increases in positive coping skills. Ultimately, the MBSR-T program’s goal is to strengthen teens’ stress coping capacities, foster greater resilience, and improve quality of life during adolescence.
Clinical Populations: The first rigorous scientific test of the efficacy of MBSR-T was done with 102 adolescents ages 14 to 18 years with mood and anxiety disorders in an outpatient psychiatric facility (Biegel et al., 2009). Adolescents were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (they received mindfulness training) or the control group (they did not receive any training). All participants continued their usual psychological care in addition to their group assignment. Results showed that from baseline to the 3-month post-treatment follow-up (5 months total), participants in the intervention group improved significantly on a range of psychological, physical, and behavioral outcomes compared to the control group. Specifically, the intervention group reported fewer anxiety and stress symptoms and significant reductions in self-reported anxiety, depression, somatization, perceived stress, obsessive symptoms, and interpersonal problems. The group that received the mindfulness training also showed significant increases in Global Assessment of Functioning scores, greater overall symptomatic improvement in DSM-IV diagnoses, improved self-esteem, and sleep quality 3-months after the training.
MBSR-T Workbook: https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Stress_Reduction_Workbook_for_Teens.html?id=s35C2qZ7EcwC&source=kp_book_description
References
Biegel, G. M. (2017). The stress reduction workbook for teens: Mindfulness skills to help you deal with stress. New Harbinger Publications.
Biegel, G. M., Brown, K. W., Shapiro, S. L., & Schubert, C. M. (2009). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for the treatment of adolescent psychiatric outpatients: A randomized clinical trial. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 77(5), 855.
Biegel, G. M., Chang, K., Garrett, A., & Edwards, M. (2014). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for teens. In Mindfulness-based treatment approaches (pp. 189-212). Academic Press.
Kabat-Zinn, J. (1982). An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results. General Hospital Psychiatry, 7(1), 71-72.
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