Following a discussion at the Practice about some of the ways that depression can be addressed it was surprising how little mindfulness was mentioned. Bearing in mind that it is so very effective and bearing in mind that it can be ‘pharma-free’ and that it’s been around for so long – a few thousand years in its traditional form and about 20 years in its modern form wedded to CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) –  and that it’s effective against some relapse, it should have been at the forefront of the discussion. It’s certainly one of the most prominent treatments and has even been called ‘fashionable’ (in which case it is a very classic fashion) which rather ignores the unusually convincing and solid evidence base.

A really good introduction to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), and one that can be listened to, rather than read, is provided in a series of podcasts by Prof Mark Williams of Oxford Uni’s Mindfulness Research Centre. He and Dr Danny Penman explore what depression is, what mindfulness and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy is, and its effectiveness as a treatment, backed up with research and evidence.

If you have access to an mp3 player the series is really worth a listen and, of course, you don’t have to be depressed to benefit from being mindful; listen to this series and you’ll see what we mean.

The New Psychology of Depression:   https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/new-psychology-depression

The Harbourside Practice recently celebrated its fifth anniversary and the only real change during those years has been towards talking therapies and away from the manual therapies.

The practice started off as a general complementary health clinic with the usual fairly eclectic spread of therapies including acupuncture and buqi, homeopathy and aromatherapy. Massage and talking therapies were no more prominent than the others but, over time, the shift to talking therapies led to the big hydraulic couch having to go to free up another room for more talking, making space for three more chairs in the room.

The trend continued and now, out of all the hours spent at the Practice, probably a good 95% are ‘talking’ hours of one kind or another. Counsellors, psychotherapists, mentors, hypnotherapists, coaches, NLPers and CBTers account for the majority of time. It’s true that the building lends itself to quiet reflection and a peaceful therapeutic exchange but this is just as true for manual therapies so the reason for this will remain obscure for the time being. But if that’s how the Practice has developed organically over time then that’s fine.

If it’s matured over its five years into a talking shop, then so be it; it seems to know where it wants to go. And for all that it seems to work for Caroline and Louise who practise holistic massage and Bowen therapy, both of whom have been working from the Practice for what must now be over four years.