Mindfulnessmeditatiebehandelingen in de GGZ: Moeten we wachten op empirische rechtvaardiging?

Practicing mindfulness meditation treatment is popular but unwarranted given the status quo of empirical support for therapies such as MBSR and MBCT. The evidence base for these treatments is not growing as most mindfulness research still suffers from methodological limitations. The overall quality of the published treatment trials is low and a cursory view of the recent literature suggests there is no sign of real improvement yet. Vernooij (2011) argues that the positive experience with mindfulness meditation treatment in practice alone justifies its wider application and that it is overly scientistic to dictate that the application of any treatment in practice requires empirical justification. I disagree, arguing that without empirical justification mental health care cannot be distinguished from witchcraft.