THIS TRAINING IS FULL WITH WAIT LIST - REGISTRATION WILL OPEN 1ST WEEK IN FEBRUARY FOR NEXT TRAINING THAT STARTS IN MARCH OF 2025.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) that integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with much-older wisdom practices. Originally developed to prevent relapse in people with recurrent depression, MBCT and its adaptations have been shown to not only reduce relapse of mood disorders, but also reduce current symptoms and /or protect from relapse in conditions such as PTSD, OCD, Panic, GAD, other anxiety, & related disorders such as substance abuse (Hoffman et al., 2017; Garland et al., 2019; King et al., 2013; Molnar, 2014). Broadly speaking, MBPs are of benefit for people with disorders marked by Neuroticism as described by Barlow et al., (2021) and associated experiential avoidance (Hayes-Skelton et al., 2020). Through effective integration of scientific findings and theory about emotional processing and the cognitive, physical, and overt and covert behavioral elements of emotion, MBCT has been shown to be a trans-therapeutic intervention of benefit to those with a range of transdiagnostic disorders. This is in part through increasing metacognition (aka "decentering" , "deidentification", etc.) and changing how one relates habitually with unwanted internal experiences in mind and body (Davis et al., 2024; Moore, Lau et al., 2022). Moreover, the mindfulness skills developed in MBCT are foundational for the range of compassion-based interventions that also have transtherapeutic benefits for those with emotional disorders (Kirby et al., 2017).
The path for competently and ethically teaching MBCT to those with emotional disorders includes, but is not limited to, participation in the traditional 8-session MBCT program in the role of "participant-observer". The participant-observer model of competence development supports professionals in implementing MBCT with the population they already have expertise serving. It also offers the opportunity to observe experienced professionals modelling and "embodying" (Griffith & Crane, 2021) implementation of the MBCT curriculum elements with people exhibiting symptoms the trainee practitioner wants to develop skills for treating.
In this workshop, developing clinician teachers will directly experience the MBCT treatment protocol in a mixed group with both professionals and non-professionals . Separately, in a non-mixed group. practitioners in training will practice guiding short versions of MBCT practices & receiving feedback from expert MBCT instructors and fellow trainees. Feedback is offered in the context of a relational mindfulness practice that invites contemplation, reflection, & inquiry about implementing the "Guiding Practice" Domain of the Mindfulness-Based Interventions - Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC). The Guiding Practice Domain outlines the key elements of each original MBCT formal practice including: the 3 step breathing space (3SBS); body scan; sitting & movement formal practices, and mindful eating. As well, practitioners may opt to receive feedback about some of the additional shorter versions of the original practices described in both the workbook and manual (see Required Readings below) including Two Ways of Knowing; The Responsive Version of the 3SBS; and Mindfulness of Sounds and Thoughts
Practitioners will be supported in developing beginner-level skills and practice a process that supports ongoing skill development applicable to implementing all elements of the MBCT curriculum. The focus in the professional only practice groups that occur Sunday 1/12/25 & 2/2/25 from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. ET (21:30 to 24:00 UTC) will be on implementing brief key practices such as the "spine of the program", the 3SBS formal guided practice, so that clinicians can then offer MBCT practices & exercises to clients in individual psychotherapy sessions. Further, through developing the habit of formal and informal personal mindfulness practice in the role of participant they can enhance both intra- & inter-personal effectiveness in responding to challenges that arise in MBCT skill development and implementation with clients. For more about competence levels refer to the MBI-TAC in required readings below. For more about the training pathway & the developmental course of becoming an MBCT teacher visit https://www.mbct.com/mbct-training-pathway/ or read article by MBCT co-developer Zindel Segal, Ph.D. at www.philabta.org/EBP about increasing access to high quality professional training Home - Access MBCT .
The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition 2nd Edition
Mindfulness-Based Interventions - Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC)
Baer, R., Crane, C., Miller, E., & Kuyken, W. (2019). Doing no harm in mindfulness-based programs: conceptual issues and empirical findings. Clinical psychology review, 71, 101-114.
Suggested Reading
Barlow, D. H., Curreri, A. J., & Woodard, L. S. (2021). Neuroticism and disorders of emotion: A new synthesis. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(5), 410-417.
Crane, R. S., Eames, C., Kuyken, W., Hastings, R. P., Williams, J. M. G., Bartley, T., ... & Surawy, C. (2013). Development and validation of the mindfulness-based interventions–teaching assessment criteria (MBI: TAC). Assessment, 20(6), 681-688.
Davis, Karen & Wojcik, Curtis & Baillie, Andrew & Foley, Elizabeth & Goddard, Timothea & Lau, Mark & Haigh, Emily. (2024). Mechanisms of Mindfulness: A Longitudinal Study of a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. Mindfulness. 15. 1-20. 10.1007/s12671-024-02359-w.
Dimidjian, S., & Segal, Z. V. (2015). Prospects for a clinical science of mindfulness-based intervention. American Psychologist, 70(7), 593.
Garland, E. L., Baker, A. K., Riquino, M. R., & Priddy, S. E. (2019). Mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement: a review of its theoretical underpinnings, clinical application, and biobehavioral mechanisms. Handbook of mindfulness-based programmes, 327-340.
Griffith G, Crane R. Introducing the Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching and Learning Companion (The TLC). Glob Adv Health Med. 2021 Nov 11;10:21649561211056883. doi: 10.1177/21649561211056883. PMID: 34790436; PMCID: PMC8591640.
Griffith, G. M., Crane, R. S., Baer, R., Fernandez, E., Giommi, F., Herbette, G., & Koerbel, L. (2021). Implementing the mindfulness-based interventions; teaching assessment criteria (MBI: TAC) in mindfulness-based teacher training. Global advances in health and medicine, 10, 2164956121998340.
Hayes-Skelton, S. A., & Eustis, E. H. (2020). Experiential avoidance. In J. S. Abramowitz & S. M. Blakey (Eds.), Clinical handbook of fear and anxiety: Maintenance processes and treatment mechanisms (pp. 115–131). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000150-007
Hofmann, S. G., & Gómez, A. F. (2017). Mindfulness-based interventions for anxiety and depression. Psychiatric clinics, 40(4), 739-749.
Kirby, J. N., Tellegen, C. L., & Steindl, S. R. (2017). A meta-analysis of compassion-based interventions: Current state of knowledge and future directions. Behavior therapy, 48(6), 778-792.
Molnar, C. (2014). Generalized Anxiety Disorder. In L. Grossman & S. Walfish (Eds), Translating Research into Practice: A Desk Reference for Practicing Mental Health Professionals. New York: Springer Publishing.
Molnar, C. (June, 2014). Peer groups as a reflecting pool for enhancing wisdom. The Pennsylvania Psychologist Quarterly, pages 9-10.
Molnar, C. (September, 2017). Playing in the ocean of awareness: Innovations in mindfulness training. The Pennsylvania Psychologist Quarterly, pages 16-17.
Moore, M. T., Lau, M. A., Haigh, E. A. P., Willett, B. R., Yu, A. R., Bosma, C. M., Fresco, D. M. (2022). The Association Between Decentering and Reductions in Relapse/Recurrence in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy for Depression in Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 90 (2), 137-147. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000718
CE Learning Objectives
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. Describe the essential components of four formal mindfulness practices that adhere to evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) designed to teach participants to deconstruct emotion (pleasant or unpleasant) into the mind, body, and behavior elements.
2. Describe two examples of covert (mental) or overt (observable) behaviors that reflect the “doing mode of mind” that arises when there is a discrepancy between one’s desired verses actual state.
3. Describe one specific way that an unpleasant emotion state can contribute to the risk of recurrence of transdiagnostic emotional disorders with reference to state-dependent information processing.
4. Describe the phenomenon of automatic thoughts (ATs), measured by the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ), being more readily retrieved during negative / & or depleted mood / emotion states.
5. Describe two examples of the “being (present) mode of mind” that serves as an antidote for the doing mode of mind’s focus on the past & / or future.
6. Describe one way that the being mode of mind can reduce the risk of recurrence of distress in transdiagnostic emotional disorders associated with automatically perceiving thoughts as facts when cognitive fusion processes are present.
7. Describe two examples of the difference between conceptual and non-conceptual information (& associated) emotional processing and how each mode of processing can respectively increase or reduce likelihood of distress and / or dysphoria.
8. Describe the difference between an avoidance / aversion verses an approach mode of relating with experience and how each can influence level of distress and dysphoria.
9. Describe the concept of ruminative brooding and how it worsens mood and predicts onset, maintenance, and recurrence of transdiagnostic emotional disorders.
10. Describe the components of the regular three-step "breathing space" practice and how it supports implementation of MBI skills in everyday life.
11. Describe the components of the responsive three-step "breathing space" practice and how it can support the application of mindfulness skills & compassionate responding in stressful situations.
12. Describe how the body scan practice can be viewed as a behavioral experiment with an intention of noticing the impact of non-conceptual information processing of experience; disengagement of attention from stimuli increasing distress; and a broadening of the attentional field.
13. Describe MBI-adherent components of the formal sitting meditation practice and how it can be considered a micro-laboratory that supports awareness of not only sensations but also habitual mental phenomena and one’s intra-personal relationship to feeling states.
14. Describe three of the nine “Foundational Attitudes” that are ways of relating with experience to support both formal and informal mindfulness practice implementation.
15. Describe elements of the informal practice of monitoring pleasant and unpleasant events and how event logs are used to support deconstruction of emotion states into their co-arising & interacting elements.
16. Describe the implementation of the informal practice of logging nourishing and depleting events and how this supports identification of factors associated with relapse prevention and self-kindness intra-personally.
17. Describe how brief assessments of mindfulness, ruminative brooding and compassion can be integrated into the MBCT curriculum to motivate practice and track outcome.
18. Describe the physiological outcome of fighting or attempting to eliminate unwanted internal experiences and how it contrasts with allowing one’s unwanted experiences and relating with kindness to the self.
19. Describe two specific ways that participation in the MBCT group supports the strengthening of mindfulness and compassion in relationship with self and / or others.
20. Describe the six teaching competence domains measured by the Mindfulness-Based Interventions - Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC)
About Presenters
Mark Lau, PhD, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, and a registered psychologist in private practice at the Vancouver CBT Centre. Dr. Lau has over 25 years experience providing Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to individuals and groups; conducting MBCT and CBT research; providing leadership in developing models of mental health care delivery including innovative ways of delivering MBCT & CBT; and, providing leadership in training and education including providing MBCT single and multi-day professional trainings across North America, Europe and Australia for mental health professionals. Mark is also an MBCT teacher trainer/mentor with the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute and is one of a handful of MBCT trainers who provide the 5-day MBCT Professional Training in North America. He has provided MBCT & Fostering Resilience workshops to psychiatrists, physicians, UBC internal medicine residents, university research administrators and college staff. Dr. Lau’s research interests include investigating the mechanisms underlying MBCT’s effectiveness, the development and validation of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale, and evaluating effective methods of disseminating MBCT and CBT. He is a former Associate Editor of the journal Mindfulness.
Chris Molnar, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and clinical investigator, founded Mindful Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Psychological Wellness Center (META Center) in 2007. She completed post-doctoral fellowship training in traumatic stress, neuroscience, and psycho-physiology and is an expert in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, emotional, and stress-related conditions using evidence-based practices. She teaches both Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and has also developed adaptations for highly distressed clients, using Relational Mindfulness Practices (RBPs), to meet the needs of people in both individual and group therapy settings. At META Center, she offers integrative interventions grounded in findings about the brain, emotion, and learning to facilitate mental and behavioral habit change, even in the face of severe distress. Before founding META Center, she served as a clinical investigator and therapist supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and other agencies. She is also on the editorial board of Behavior Therapy and serves the public in many ways, through professional presentations, workshops, publications, and affiliations.
Target Audience
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure. The instructional level of this presentation is BEGINNER.
Note: This workshop does not require attendees to have a formal mindfulness practice.
SCHEDULE
In addition to the MBCT Tuesday evening "mixed" meetings (i.e., professionals and non-professionals) from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET on 12/10/24 to 2/11/2025 (except 12/24 & 31 of 2024) there are 6 additional CE training hours attended by professionals only. These take place at the following times:
Tuesday 12/10/2024 from 8:15 to 9:15 p.m. ET (note that this is 5 hours behind UTC & the ET is with reference to Philadelphia, PA)
Sunday 1/12/25 & 2/2/25 from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. ET (21:30 to 24:00 UTC)
In this virtual training the overall structure of MBCT-L and its evidence-base to date will be described. Three key components that support implementation and associated benefits of MBCT-L (and related MB programs) are outlined with examples. For more about the three components of awareness, attitude, and values please refer to the except from Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Life (MBCT-L)at www.philabta.org/EBP.
Required reading
Strauss, C., Gu, J., Montero-Marin, J., Whittington, A., Chapman, C., & Kuyken, W. (2021). Reducing stress and promoting well-being in healthcare workers using mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for life. International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, 21(2), 100227.
Kajee, N., Montero-Marin, J., Saunders, K. E., Myall, K., Harriss, E., & Kuyken, W. (2024). Mindfulness training in healthcare professions: a scoping review of systematic reviews. Medical Education, 58(6), 671-686.
Kuyken, W. (2024). Mindfulness for Life. Guilford Press.
Kuyken, W., Hayes, R., Barrett, B., Byng, R., Dalgleish, T., Kessler, D., ... & Byford, S. (2015). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance antidepressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (PREVENT): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 386(9988), 63-73.
Maloney, S., Montero-Marin, J., & Kuyken, W. (2024). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy—Taking it Further (MBCT-TiF) compared to Ongoing Mindfulness Practice (OMP) in the promotion of well-being and mental health: A randomised controlled trial with graduates of MBCT and MBSR. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 173, 104478.
Operationalize each of the key elements of awareness, attitude, and values that support implementation of MBCT-L.
Describe one benefit of the MBCT-L program.
About Presenter
From 1999 to 2014, he worked at the University of Exeter, where he held many roles including head of the doctoral clinical psychology training programme (2001-2004) and lead of the clinical research group (2001-2010). During his time in Exeter, he co-founded the Mood Disorders Centre, directing it through its formative years (2004-2012) and co-foundeding (with Alison Evans) the Masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapies (2008). He was awarded the May Davidson award for clinical psychologists who "have made an outstanding contribution to the development of clinical psychology within the first ten years of their work as a qualified clinical psychologist." He has been "grand-fathereded" as a Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.
We live in turbulent times with increasing levels of stress and challenge across all age groups and across a wide range of work and life contexts. This workshop is the second of an experiential and participatory series therefore registrants will receive access to a recording of the first one month in advance. This upcoming training is designed to introduce mental health professionals, and those training in this field, to how mindfulness-based approaches (MBAs) may be best used and adapted to meet the particular needs of different populations and contexts to build resilience, ease suffering, and support well-being. See https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.006
Mindfulness-based approaches (e.g. MBCT, MBSR, MBRP etc), as well as mindfulness-informed approaches (e.g. A.C.T.), are increasingly applied world-wide in group and one to one contexts to meet a wide variety of common emotional and psychological disorders and promote wellness. See Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review - 10.1093/bmb/ldab005
The workshop will include break out room practice and invite participants to engage in some of the standard skills-based practices used in MBAs to develop emotional regulation, perspective and resilience so that the learning is experienced-based and grounded. We will use this grounded experience to better assimilate and understand how mindfulness-based approaches have their positive effect in relation to these increasingly common emotional, relational and psychological challenges. In addition we will outline how competency and integrity are being protected and encouraged in this field. See Mindfulness-Based Interventions - Teaching Assessment Criteria.
Finally, as an aspect of integrity we will explore how adaptations of these mindfulness-based approaches may be effectively tailored and assessed to meet emerging challenges. See https://doi.org/10.1177/21649561211068805
Required Reading (click citation to download)
Loucks, E. B., Crane, R. S., Sanghvi, M. A., Montero-Marin, J., Proulx, J., Brewer, J. A., & Kuyken, W. (2022). Mindfulness-based programs: why, when, and how to adapt?. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 11, 21649561211068805.
Crane, R. S., Eames, C., Kuyken, W., Hastings, R. P., Williams, J. M. G., Bartley, T., ... & Surawy, C. (2013). Development and validation of the mindfulness-based interventions–teaching assessment criteria (MBI: TAC). Assessment, 20(6), 681-688
Crane, R. S., Karunavira, & Griffith, G. M. (Eds.). (2021). Essential resources for mindfulness teachers. Routledge.
Marx, R., Strauss, C., & Williamson, C. (2014). The eye of the storm: a feasibility study of an adapted Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) group intervention to manage NHS staff stress. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 7, e18.
J Gu, C Strauss, R Bond, and K Cavanagh (2015) How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies Clinical Psychological Review
D Zhang, E Lee, E Mak, C Ho and S Wong, (2021) Mindfulness-based interventions: an overall review. British Medical Bulletin., N.I.H.
CE Learning Objective:
By the end of this program, participants will be able to:
Describe 2 guidelines for adapting Mindfulness-Based Programs (MBPs) while maintaining integrity of the evidence-based & first generation MBSR & MBCT training programs.
ABOUT PRESENTER
Dh .Karunavira
Karunavira studied Mindfulness Based Approaches at the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP), Bangor University gaining his M.Sc. in 2010. He currently is a senior trainer for CMRP. He is also a founding director of, ‘Mindfulhealth’, training mindfulness teachers in the UK
He has taught mindfulness-based approaches (MBCT and MBSR) and trained mindfulness teachers within the local and wider (international) community since 2005, specialising in working with Carers, Young People, NHS Staff and traditional Arab and Far Eastern communities. He leads mindfulness retreats in the UK and across Europe. He previously trained as a Psychotherapeutic Counsellor specialising in working within the NHS with parents/carers of children with complex needs, working with this population as a Mindfulness Therapist.
Karunavira left his initial career as Headteacher in Primary education in 1982 to pursue Buddhist studies. From 1990 he taught meditation and Buddhist studies in the UK and between 2000 and 2010 he was the spiritual director of the Brighton Buddhist Centre (UK)
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure and with some clinical experience. The instructional level of this presentation is INTERMEDIATE.
Davies, J., Heasman, B., Livesey, A., Walker, A., Pellicano E., & Remington, A. (2023). Access to employment: A comparison of autistic, neurodivergent and neurotypical adults’ experiences of hiring processes in the United Kingdom. Autism, 27(6), 1746-1763.
Flegenheimer, C., & Scherf, K.S. (2022). College as a Developmental Context for Emerging Adulthood in Autism: A Systematic Review of What We Know and Where We Go from Here. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorders, 52, 2075–2097.
Sansosti, F., Cimera, R., Koch, L., & Rumrill, P. (2017). Strategies for Ensuring Positive Transition for Individuals with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 47(2),149-157.
Explore the prevalence of these co-occurring conditions and how they require/influence transition/treatment planning,
Describe two ways that behavioral and relationship-based models can be combined for better outcomes toward adulthood for neurodivergent individuals.
Model three components of successful social/vocational transition strategies that predict success in college and work settings.
Identify three ways that professionals across disciplines can assist neurodivergent individuals to overcome barriers to successful transitions.
Apply three techniques to use with neurodivergent individuals experiencing high level of anxiety or stress.
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure. The instructional level of this presentation is INTERMEDIATE.
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