Integrating Mindfulness Based Techniques into Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A Case Description

Abstract

Sam was a patient admitted to the psychiatry department of a tertiary care hospital due to the worsening of his OCD symptoms. He had been to many psychiatrists and psychotherapists for close to six years. His OCD symptoms were not reducing adequately in response to the treatments he was receiving. At the hospital he was offered standard CBT, in accordance with the current treatment recommendations. Yet as Sam found it difficult to engage in CBT, the therapist decided to integrate a few mindfulness techniques into the standard treatment protocol of CBT. This helped Sam reduce his anxiety levels successfully and engage in CBT exercises. This eventually helped the symptoms to be managed to the extent that he could be discharged from the ward. The current paper expects to discuss how the mindfulness techniques were integrated to standard CBT. As this paper is based on a case description, the authors recommend that systematic research be carried out to arrive at conclusive evidence on the utility of integrating mindfulness techniques in CBT for patients with OCD.