Board Member Highlights!
Mindfulness Resources for the Digitally-inclined Client and Clinician
In the past 10 years, online resources for those who want to explore and practice mindfulness have exploded. Guided meditations, videos, newsletters, blogs, chat groups -- they're all out there and easily accessible. What should one recommend? The following is a highly selective list of well-respected resources to fit a variety of needs.
Mindfulness for Children and Adolescents
Several good websites provide resources on mindfulness for professionals and the children and teens with whom they work. Stressed Teens (www.stressedteens.com) is a website developed by a psychotherapist who adapted Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for pre-teens through latter adolescence. It provides links to apps on I-tunes that teens can use on-the-spot to reduce stress. The Stressed Teens Workbook is useful for those who like to see it in print.
Susan Kaiser Greenland, a self-proclaimed "lawyer in recovery," has been offering training to educators and parents on mindfulness for children (ages four to eighteen) for the past decade. Her program, Inner Kids, is affiliated with UCLA's Mindful Awareness Center. Her website, susankaisergreenland org, includes links to podcasts on working with children, including titles like 4 Minutes of Stillness for Children. For the printed page enthusiasts, The Mindful Child, is a wonderful compendium of mindfulness exercises for children.
Mindful Eating
The Center for Mindful Eating's website www.tcme.org includes online recordings, articles, and e-newsletters for professionals (Food for Thought and clients (Patient Newsletter) written by nationally known experts in the field such as Jean Kristeller, Jan Chozen Bays, and Char Williams.
Eatingmindfully.com includes a link to a Youtube video and an I-phone app that provides reminders to eat mindfully and a calendar to track progress in doing so.
Compassion, Happiness, and All That Other Good Stuff
In the past several years, several academic centers at major universities have been created to study compassion, gratitude, and happiness. The Greater Good Science Center www.greatergood.berkeley.edu at UC/Berkeley "studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being and teaches skills that foster a thriving, resilient, and compassionate society." Included on their website are podcasts, videos, and short quizzes on compassion, generosity, etc. Visitors can also sign up to receive their e-newsletter.
Stanford's Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education offers training programs for mental health professionals, videos, research articles, and the Stanford Compassion Action Blog where bloggers post ideas on how to develop compassion.
One of my personal favorite compassion websites is The Compassionate Mind Foundation www.compassionatemind.co.uk which features the work of Dr. Paul Gilbert, a British psychotherapist who has devoted his career to research and clinical work on developing self-compassion. HIs website includes handouts for clients and clinicians and research scales freely offered.
Tara Brach, a psychologist and senior meditation teacher in Washington, D.C., has many recorded talks and guided meditations on the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C.'s website www.imcw.org . Topics include radical acceptance, training for intimacy with life, etc.
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and mindfulness practitioner and teacher, publishes the e-newsletter Wise Brain Bulletin for clinicians and others interested in the science of mindfulness and the brain. He also publishes the e-newsletter Just One Thing that "suggests a simple practice each week that will bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart." Both can be subscribed to on his website www.rickhanson.net.
Other Recommended Sources for free Guided Meditations and Recorded Talks
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recorded guided meditations now available for free download on the web. The following are just a few of my favorites.
Secular versions of brief guided meditations on the breath, body, etc. can be found at UCLA's Mindful Awareness Research Center. Find a link there to the Washington Mindfulness Community's website www.mindfulnessdc.org which has a downloadable meditation timer for PC and Apple users.
Gil Fronsdal, a meditation teacher who has practiced in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions, is the senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in CA. His instructions and talks are clear and accessible. Their website has a section called AudioDharma www.audiodharma.org with podcasts of his and his senior teachers' recorded talks and guided meditations.
Dharma Seed www.dharmaseed.org has collected talks from senior teachers in the Vipassana meditation community for years. Before the web, they were available for purchase on tape. Now you can download talks and guided meditations from their website for free; donations to support their work are encouraged.
Buddhanet.net is a vast network of links to guided meditations (both secular and Buddhist), chants, articles, directories, and more.
Workshop Offerings/Series-Fall 2012
Foundations of Mindful Therapy
Date: October 12, 2012-March 2013 (meets monthly)
Time: 9am-12pm
Cost: $375.00
Location: Three Smooth Stones, 3336 E. 25th St. Mpls, MN 55406
Facilitators: Tom Glaser, Patty Hlava, Jil Leverone
Contact: Jil Leverone to register
CEU's for LP are in the application process and will be available at an additional cost of $20.00
Consultation Group on Dharma Infused Psychotherapy
Brief Description: Eastern and Western psychology (psychodynamic and systemic approaches), meditation practice, and the inter-subjective space will inform an in-depth exploration of cases presented.
Dates: Sept. 26, Oct. 10, Oct. 24, Nov. 7
(Will be open to continuing pending on interest)
Time: 7-8:30 p.m.
Cost: $100/monthly series
Contact: Lorene Jabola 651.724.5688 or [email protected]
Mind-Body-Spirit Integrative Supervision Group
On-going mindfulness and integrative supervision exploring therapist use of self, the inter-subjective relationship, and case consultations. Integration of meditation and mindfulness.
Date: Meets monthly
Time: Wednesdays 9-11am
Cost: $50-60/session
Contact: Merra Young or Stacy Husebo to register
Full Catastrophe Consultation Group
Date: Begins September 21, 2012
Time: Friday mornings
Cost: to be determined
Contact: Jil Leverone to register
Inside the Mindful Therapy Session
Brief Description: Case examples and applications will bring to life how to offer and integrate Buddhist psychology, mindfulness and compassion into direct practice. This workshop will include mindful treatment planning with clients and time to discuss case scenarios.
Date: Friday, December 7, 2012
Time: 9am-12:30pm
Cost: $60
Location: Rivers Way Meditation Center
Workshop Presenters:
Stacy Husebo, MSW, LICSW
Merra Young, MSW, LICSW, LMFT
Contact: Merra Young to register
(Certificate of Attendance provided)