MBCT in NHS Talking Therapies services
With our partners at Exeter University, Nottingham Centre for Mindfulness, and Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, we run a one-year training programme to teach Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy in NHS Talking Therapies services.
Improve your Service with mindfulness
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) has approved Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) as an effective treatment for people with mild to moderate depression, and as a relapse prevention intervention for people with recurrent depression. With our teacher training, provided free by NHS England, you can offer this treatment as part of your NHS Talking Therapies service.
Real life impact of our teacher training
Watch this short video to hear from therapists who have done the MBCT teacher training, and find out how it helps them and their clients.
I would say to other clinical service leads who are thinking about sending staff on the mindfulness teacher training programme is that the benefits are threefold.
Firstly, there’s increasing evidence that MBCT is an effective treatment for depression….
Secondly, I think there are benefits in terms of the use of the step care model. I think it can be used very flexibly as a treatment approach to help manage waiting lists and to improve recovery rates….
And finally, I think it’s really important for staff wellbeing. We know that staff wellbeing has sometimes been a cause for concern in Talking Therapy Services. It’s a high pressure environment, with high turnover and high case loads. And mindfulness works to address some of those problems in several ways….
Jon Wheatley, Consultant Psychologist and Clinical Lead, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Face to face and online training
The MBCT teacher training is delivered in three or four sites across England, through a mixture of face-to-face and online sessions. The teaching, supervision and five-day retreat are fully funded by NHS England.
Teaching within NHS Talking Therapies
On successful completion of the training, staff will be able to deliver this NICE approved, evidence-based, therapeutic approach within NHS Talking Therapies services.
The teacher training is for high intensity cognitive behaviour therapists with:
- at least one year’s post-qualification experience working in NHS Talking Therapies services;
- experience of doing the MBCT course as a participant (see our upcoming MBCT courses advertised here);
- a personal mindfulness practice.
Diversity welcome and positively encouraged
We are enriched by people’s diversity on our training and would particularly welcome applications from people from underrepresented communities.
Application process
The deadline for applications for the next round of teacher training will be around the end of October in 2026. The new applications forms will be available here. In the meantime, if you have any queries please don’t hesitate to contact us at spft.smc@nhs.net.
More information
For more information, please see Marx, R., Menzies, P. Symon, R. Turner, S. & Pound, A. (2023). MBCT training in IAPT: the experience of the first UK government funded teacher training programme. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 16, e8, DOI: You can download a pdf of this paper here.
Further information on the training content can be found in the training information and curriculum on this page or by contacting the training site lead for your area:
Dr Paul Bernard (paul.bernard@nhs.net) for the North (North East and North West, including Cheshire, Yorkshire and Humberside and further north).
Dr Tim Sweeney (tim.sweeney@nottshc.nhs.uk) and Kate Feenan (Kathryn.Feenan@nottshc.nhs.uk) for Central England (Midlands and East of England, including Stafford, Derby, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire and as far south as, and including, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Essex, East Anglia and Hertfordshire).
Dr Robert Marx (robert.marx@nhs.net) for the South (covering Greater London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Isle of Wight, the Thames Valley, including Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the south-west).
Current students
For current participants training to teach MBCT as part of NHS Talking Therapies Services you can find your training handbooks, other documents and details of your Support Group here.