Mindfulness-Based Group Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Primary Care

Most people with mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety are seen in primary care and never receive specialty treatment. Efficiently delivering psychotherapy for these conditions in this setting is a continuing challenge. These researchers compared the effectiveness of mindfulness-based group therapy with usual care in 215 patients with moderate symptoms of anxiety or depression (35% on medication), seen in 16 Swedish primary care practices.

Mindfulness (8 weekly 2-hour sessions with daily practice) was delivered by a range of practitioners working in the clinics; clinicians received 6 weeks of training. The control treatment was mostly individual cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), also delivered in the clinics (76%; mean, 6 sessions). The …