2-Day Intensive Training: Mindfulness Certification Course

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Richard Sears, PsyD, PhD, MBA, ABPP Related seminars and products

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Richard Sears, PsyD, PhD, MBA, ABPP, is a licensed psychologist in Cincinnati, Ohio, board certified in clinical psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP), runs a private psychology and consultation practice, and is the director of the Center for Clinical Mindfulness & Meditation. He has run hundreds of mindfulness groups and was lead clinician in the first brain scan study involving mindfulness with children and adolescents. He is also an adjunct professor in the University of Cincinnati psychology department, clinical research faculty at the UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness, volunteer professor of psychiatry & behavioral neurosciences at the UC College of Medicine, and a former research/psychologist contractor with the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.

His most recent books include ACT with Anxiety (PESI); The ACT Flip Chart (PESI); Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Mindfulness Toolbox (PESI); Mindfulness: Living Through Challenges and Enriching Your Life in the Moment (Wiley-Blackwell); Building Competence in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (Routledge); and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (Wiley-Blackwell).

Dr. Sears is a sixth-degree black belt in Ninjutsu, and once served as a personal protection agent for the Dalai Lama with his teacher, Stephen K. Hayes. He has studied Eastern Wisdom for over 40 years, receiving ordination in three traditions, and transmission as a Zen master.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Richard Sears maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati Center for Integrative Health and Wellness, Alliance Integrative Medicine, and Wright State University. He receives compensation as a consultant. Dr. Sears receives royalties as a published author. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Richard Sears is the founder and director of the Center for Clinical Mindfulness and Meditation and is a member of the American Board of Professional Psychology, the Academy of the American Board of Clinical Psychology, and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences. He is a peer reviewer for Mindfulness and a book reviewer for John Wiley & Sons, Inc, and Routledge.

Additional Info

Program Information

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

Please note: Each day there will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.

Objectives

1. Analyze how clear psychoeducational descriptions of the relationship between mindfulness, neurobiology, and common disorders can be used to motivate clients to engage in treatment.
2. Appraise how a case conceptualization that draws upon neuropsychological principles can help clinicians establish realistic expectations and goals with clients.
3. Formulate treatment plans for anxiety that incorporate mindfulness strategies clients can use in and out of session to help alleviate symptoms.
4. Assess the neurobiological underpinnings of how emotions are created, and communicate why this is important to the therapeutic process.
5. Employ mindfulness training and diaphragmatic breathing techniques that clients can use to help them manage unhealthy anger responses.
6. Construct treatment plans for depression that incorporate mindfulness interventions that can be used to interrupt rumination and automatic negative thoughts.
7. Demonstrate how mindfulness based stress reduction techniques can be used with clients to address prolonged periods of stress that can impact mental and physical health
8. Assess the clinical impact of research regarding the effects of mindfulness based practices on the neuropsychological aspects of trauma.
9. Evaluate the clinical implications of research regarding the association between mindfulness and relationship satisfaction and outcomes.
10. Investigate how barriers to implementing mindfulness can be overcome using informal techniques clients can incorporate into their daily lives.
11. Determine how clinical tools that increase self-awareness can be used in therapy to help clients better manage their thoughts, emotions and behaviors.
12. Appraise the importance of the connection between therapist and client in contributing to positive clinical outcomes, and evaluate how mindfulness may enhance the therapeutic relationship.

Outline

Mindfulness and the Clinician: “Know What You Teach” and “Teach What You Know”

• Empirical support for improved symptomology and well-being
• The latest research on therapists who practice mindfulness
• Your mindfulness practice and how you can embody mindfulness
• Situations that may contraindicate applying mindfulness in session
• Research limitations

Mindfulness Psychoeducation Approaches: Easy to Use Strategies to Enhance Motivation in Therapy

• Mindfulness vocabulary
• Visuals and metaphors to explain mindfulness
• Motivate clients with neuroplasticity

Deepen the Therapeutic Relationship: Build Presence, Trust and Empathetic Connection with Clients

• Overcoming barriers
• Affect regulation techniques for therapist and client
• Strategies to create empathetic connection
• Exercises to build clients trust in themselves

Teach Mindfulness to Clients: Formal and Informal Mindfulness Practices

• Tips for teaching clients about the senses and awareness
• Strategies to shift from “Automatic Pilot”
• Skill building interventions to increase responsiveness & reduce reactivity
• Strategies to cultivate attunement
• Approaches for deepened experience of mindfulness
• Brief and other informal practices
• How to adapt practices to special populations

Group Therapy vs. Individual Sessions

• Effectiveness of group vs. individual mindfulness
• How to set up and conduct a mindfulness group
  • Screening for individual goodness of fit
  • Encouraging client buy-in and commitment to practice
• Mindfulness interventions specifically designed for groups

Anxiety and Stress: Mindfulness Interventions to Relax the Body and Mind

• Breathing practices that break the rumination cycle
• Guided visualizations to lower the stress response
• Movement strategies
• Multi-sensory regulation techniques
• Mindfully reduce the intensity of panic attacks

Mindfulness for Trauma: Disempower Intrusive Thoughts

• Muscle tension releasing – exercises to counter fight or flight
• Guided meditations to disempower intrusive thoughts
• Grounding exercises and sample scripts

Using Mindfulness in Depression Treatment

• Recognize self-criticism and respond with self-love
• Manage negative self-talk with awareness of thoughts
• Meditations to boost well-being

Mindfulness for Addictions: Break the Habit Loop

• Awareness vs. autopilot -- relapse prevention
• Mindfulness for triggers
• Emotional regulation for cravings

Mindful Anger: Breathing and Self-Soothing Techniques

• Breathe through anger
• Distraction and grounding techniques
• Self-soothe with calming words and imagery

Mindfulness, Diversity, & Cultural Humility

• Adapt mindfulness experiences with cultural sensitivity
• Assess appropriateness of mindfulness interventions for individuals
• Negotiate the treatment plan

Mindfully Conquer Compassion Fatigue

• Right here/right now – stay in the moment to reduce anxieties
• Effective and healthy ways to manage your emotions
• Change limiting stories about caring for yourself
• Release the negative – 3 steps to countering negativity bias

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Case Managers
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals