Mindfulness-based Cognitive Group Therapy: Adaptation and Practical Recommendations for Virtual Delivery

The novel SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has hastened the adoption of virtual services, including telepsychology, to maintain services for clients with mental health concerns. While mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for relapse prevention for many psychiatric disorders has been effectively adapted into an internet-delivered platform, there is little guidance provided in the literature on effective implementation of virtual group MBCT. This brief report provides guidelines for adapting group MBCT to synchronous virtual delivery via videoconference. Practical recommendations to overcome challenges associated with virtual delivery of group therapy for future clinicians and practitioners are also described. Such recommendations are based on the delivery of two synchronous online MBCT groups in an outpatient mental health clinic at a metropolitan Western Canadian public health center.