Mindfulness therapy for adults with serious mental illness at community clinics

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Therapy for SMI Implemented in a Community Mental Health Setting

NIH-funded research Butler Hospital (Providence, Ri) · NIH-11270842

This project is seeing whether mindfulness-based therapy helps adults with serious mental illness when it is offered at community mental health centers.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionButler Hospital (Providence, Ri) NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Providence, United States)
Project IDNIH-11270842 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

You would be offered a structured mindfulness-based therapy program delivered at your local community mental health center, with clinicians who have completed a certified MBT training program. Researchers will track changes in symptoms, daily functioning, and any adverse effects before and after the program. The team will also study how well the therapy can be integrated into routine clinic care and what supports clinicians need to keep offering it. The work focuses on adults with schizophrenia-spectrum or major mood disorders treated in U.S. community mental health settings.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults age 21 or older diagnosed with a serious mental illness (for example, schizophrenia-spectrum disorders or major mood disorders) who receive care at participating community mental health centers.

Not a fit: People younger than 21, those not treated at participating community mental health centers, or individuals for whom mindfulness interventions are clinically inappropriate may not be eligible or benefit.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could give people with serious mental illness a proven therapy option they can get at local community clinics to improve symptoms and functioning.

How similar studies have performed: Previous trials in the United Kingdom have shown that mindfulness-based therapy can improve symptoms and functioning in community outpatients with serious mental illness, but it has not been widely tested in U.S. community mental health centers.

Where this research is happening

Providence, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Affective Disorders
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.