My guest this week for part three of this series on depression is Dr. Willem Kuyken, and he knows all about depression, both from his personal experience since early in life as well as from his extensive research. In this episode you’ll hear about mindfulness for depression, which Willem explains so clearly, and why it’s so helpful. The benefits of being mindful extend not just to managing depression but to all of life, including helping us to deal with life’s pain and disappointments that all of us will experience at times. Toward the end he shares one of his favorite mindfulness practices, which I really loved. I got so much out of this conversation, and I think you will, too.

Topics we discussed together included:

• What mindfulness is
  • Awareness of the present moment
  • Attitudes of curiosity, kindness, care, balance, and courage
  • Intention
• Why mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy for depression is so effective
• The broad applicability of mindfulness to living well and more fully
• Why depression treatments tend to be not as effective as anxiety treatments
• How mindfulness can help us to deal with life’s pain and disappointments
• “Decentering” from thoughts and feelings through mindfulness
• Firing a “second arrow” that leads to unnecessary suffering
• Recognizing our core beliefs and starting to take them less seriously
• Different approaches for dealing with our thoughts
• Identifying an individual’s “linchpin” for change
• What drew my guest to mindfulness, and his own experiences with depression
• Adapting mindfulness practice for exactly what we need at the time
• One of Willem’s favorite mindfulness practices
• Whether we need to do formal meditation to benefit from mindfulness practice
• Treating our meditation practice—and meeting ourselves there—as a friend
• Transitioning to all of life being a mindfulness practice

Willem Kuyken, PhD, is the Ritblat Professor of Mindfulness and Psychology at the University of Oxford in the UK, and Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre.

His work focuses on depression and its prevention and treatment—in particular, how mindfulness and mindfulness-based programs can prevent depression and enhance human potential across the lifespan.

Willem has published more than 100 journal articles, including key papers on the effectiveness, mechanisms, and implementation of mindfulness-based programs.

Together with Christina Feldman, he wrote Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology (affiliate link), published in 2019 by Guilford Press.

He is currently writing a Mindfulness for Life workbook and teacher manual, to be published in 2022 and 2023 respectively, also with Guilford Press.

Find Willem on his webpage and on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.