Mindfulness

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an empirically validated program designed to prevent depressive relapse and reduce the impact of mood disorders. Developed by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, and John Teasdale, MBCT integrates mindfulness meditation with cognitive therapy.

The core of MBCT involves helping participants recognize patterns of thinking associated with mood disorders while cultivating a new relationship to thoughts and emotions—viewing them as events in the mind rather than identifying with them.

The MBCT Teacher Training Intensive (TTI) is a highly interactive professional training that emphasizes the clinician’s own meditation practice and self-inquiry. Through role-play, simulated teaching environments, and patient-practitioner scenarios, participants explore how to apply mindfulness practices in clinical settings.

The curriculum integrates didactic, experiential, and small group learning, including daily meditation, mindful movement, and periods of silence. Participants examine the interaction between thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations and how these contribute to depressive relapse, while developing the skills to teach MBCT effectively.

Are you a mental health therapist seeking to take your expertise to another level? A transdiagnostic approach such as Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MiCBT) integrates mindfulness training in the Burmese Vipassana tradition with well-established cognitive and behavioural methods.

MiCBT has been shown through research to reduce symptoms across a wide range of psychological disorders, including complex comorbidities. This integration is considered a second-generation mindfulness-based intervention, incorporating transformational skills from Buddhist psychology.

Through the MiCBT Foundation course, participants deepen understanding of mindfulness insights and behavior reinforcement, explore neuroscience findings related to behavior maintenance and change, and learn to engage clients in treatment.

The course includes didactic, practical, and experiential learning, including daily meditation practice, training in mindfulness techniques, implementation of the four stages of MiCBT, and role-play of core skills in breakout sessions.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an empirically-supported 8-week psycho-educational group intervention that teaches mindfulness meditation as a health intervention. Created by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979, MBSR offers participants the possibility to develop a different relationship to stress resulting from chronic physical and psychological illnesses, and the daily indignities experienced as a result of racism and other forms of oppression. Research outcomes have demonstrated positive improvements in physical and psychological symptoms, as well as changes in health attitudes and behaviors.

This teacher training will provide trainees the opportunity to study and experience the foundational underpinnings, mindfulness meditations and specific exercises that are the framework of the MBSR program. The themes, rationales, intention and practice skills of each MBSR class session will be reviewed, discussed and practiced. Participant screening guidelines will be covered, and samples of client handouts will be provided. There will also be home practice for personal mindfulness practice.

This online teacher training is highly interactive. Trainees will move between experiencing MBSR sessions and practicing teaching components of the program in small groups under supervision. The training emphasizes the necessity of a personal mindfulness practice as the foundation for teaching, along with embodiment of non-judgmental present-moment awareness, kindness, compassion, and equanimity.

The training integrates didactic and experiential modules, including large and small group learning, role-play, and simulated patient-practitioner encounters. Ethical considerations in teaching MBSR are also addressed.

Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MiCBT) is a sophisticated integration of mindfulness training and cognitive-behavioral science. Grounded in evidence-based principles, MiCBT offers a four-stage, transdiagnostic treatment model that can be applied across a wide range of mental health conditions and client populations. Drawing from the Burmese Vipassana tradition of Ledi Sayadaw and U Ba Khin, MiCBT blends traditional mindfulness practices with the rigor of behavioral and cognitive methods.

This one-day workshop provides an engaging overview of the theoretical framework that underpins MiCBT. Participants will deepen their understanding of operant conditioning and explore the neuro-behavioral mechanisms that explain how mindfulness and CBT complement one another.

Join an international community of clinicians in this learning opportunity to discover how MiCBT can enrich both your clinical work and your personal mindfulness practice—and to consider whether further training in this empirically validated approach may be right for you.

The experiential workshop will involve learning material through various modalities, including guided mindfulness meditation practices as taught in MiCBT, live demonstration of delivery of Diary of Reactive Habits, guided mindfulness interoceptive exposure tasks and experiential ownership, video demonstrations of MiCBT skills with a client during real-life therapy sessions, and live question and answer through chat.

What’s included: access to online pre-workshop content, 14 days access to the recorded workshop, and membership to the North American Chapter of the MiCBT Institute.

For the introductory workshop, no prior knowledge of mindfulness is assumed, but basic skills in cognitive and behavioral techniques are helpful. The workshop is geared toward professionals with a foundational understanding of the concepts, as the workshop is delivered at a higher psychological level.

How do you typically react to difficulties in life—work stress, feeling rejected, physical problems, or financial hardship? Most of us instinctively fight negative experiences and find fault in ourselves when things go wrong. This tendency adds stress and self-criticism that can worsen anxiety, depression, and other challenges.

Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teaches a different approach—learning to calm and support yourself when you’re struggling, much like you would for a close friend. Self-compassion is a skill that can be learned by anyone and is a courageous mental attitude that helps reduce self-judgment and emotional reactivity.

With mindful self-compassion, participants learn to recognize stress, respond with kindness, and build emotional resilience. Research shows that self-compassion can increase happiness, reduce anxiety and depression, and support healthy behavior change.

The 8-week MSC program consists of weekly sessions in a group format, along with guided practices and opportunities to integrate mindfulness and self-compassion into daily life.

This training brings together MBSR/MBCT teachers to contemplate and engage in practice around their wishes for wellbeing and healing for our planet Earth.

The six sessions of the training cover all 10 MBSR/MBCT class sessions. The sessions are divided approximately in half: the first half is dedicated to Earth Awareness practice and time for sharing personal reflections and experiences; the second half allows time for considering and sharing ways of inviting Earth Awareness into the curriculum and MBSR/MBCT classroom. Teachers can share both their established ways and their discoveries around new possibilities for bringing Earth Awareness into their teaching. Together, we can engage in the challenge and the benefit of holding the Earth as a fully worthy recipient in the circle of MBSR/MBCT care, compassion and embodied action.

Teachers prepare for each meeting by engaging with practice and self-reflection prompts, reviewing selected materials, and reviewing the MBSR/MBCT curriculum for the sessions to be discussed. Teachers are encouraged to write and share between meetings and contribute to a collection of resources to support Earth Awareness. Each teacher will leave this training with a range of materials for continued inspiration.

Sessions include community building, Earth-based practice, reflection and sharing, curriculum review, and exploration of ways to bring Earth Awareness into MBSR/MBCT teaching.

This teacher development training is for MBSR and MBCT teachers. Some teaching experience is recommended.

This silent retreat is for those already teaching or interested in teaching mindfulness-based programs (MBP) such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Therapy and Mindful Self Compassion. It fulfills the silent retreat prerequisite for all Mindfulness-Based Interventions. In addition, it is open to individuals who would like to further develop their mindfulness meditation practice. Some experience with mindfulness meditation is expected.

An important aspect of teaching MBP is the requirement to have a personal mindfulness practice, our intention for this retreat is to support your personal practice. This 5-night silent retreat will consist of sustained periods of silence, alternating sitting and walking meditation, with periods of Mindful Movement; (All vital for deepening a personal practice and fundamental to teaching and living a rich full life). There will be afternoon sessions exploring the attitudinal foundations of mindfulness with additional meditation practices to foster and strengthen kindness and compassion, and evening talks. Throughout the week there will be scheduled group and individual meetings with the teachers. The container of Silence, which includes refraining from speaking (except with the teachers as scheduled and as needed) reading, writing, and technology, with the exception of emergencies of course. It is a rare opportunity to slow down and give our hearts and minds some space to access our inner wisdom and compassion.

Join us to nourish and sustain your practice, in a safe environment with experienced teachers.

Objectives

At the completion of this retreat, the participants should be able to:

• To support and strengthen the practice of mindfulness
• To reflect on and discuss the importance of embodying the attitudinal foundations of mindfulness and how they inform the practice and teaching of MBPs
• To strengthen mindful speech and mindful listening as they relate to the process of inquiry
• To cultivate loving-kindness and self-compassion as foundational components of practice and teaching