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. Research outcomes have demonstrated positive improvements in physical and psychological symptoms, as well as changes in health attitudes and behaviors. This Online 10-week MBSR TTP will provide health care professionals and educators the opportunity to practice teaching the curriculum to prepare themselves for teaching the first 8-week MBSR class. The themes, rationales, intention and practice skills of each MBSR class session will be reviewed, discussed and practiced.
Practicum Format & Requirement
This Online 10-week MBSR TTP is highly interactive. Each week trainees will be asked to prepare for the entire class sessions, and then several participants in the group will be chosen to teach a practice or present a topic to the group followed by self-reflection. Constructive feedback from group members and the senior teachers will also be given. (Similar to what you experienced in “teach-backs” at the TTI). This online training is led by skilled mindfulness teacher trainers who are also experienced clinicians, mindfulness teachers or retreat leaders.
Trainees are expected to attend all 10 sessions. Live participation of 8 out of 10 sessions are required to compete the practicum. The sessions will be recorded and made available for viewing if a trainee has to miss a session.
There will be weekly home practice assignments so trainees may go through the 8 weeks of MBSR practice again with a group, as well as preparing for the entire next session, as a trainee will be assigned the teaching portion on the day of the meeting. This will include reading up on researchers mentioned in the curriculum and easily found in Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn as well as online.
Registration will be limited for this training in order to provide an environment that promotes in depth learning in an atmosphere of intimacy and shared experience.
Prerequisite
Participation in the 6-day MBSR Teacher Training Intensive, 9-day MBSR Teacher Training Practicum or equivalent is required.
Equivalency: Please email mindfulness@ucsd.edu with a description of your training and experience, and a listing of formal training completed (including dates, locations and teachers).
Application Form
During the registration process, you will be required to fill out an online 10-week MBSR Teacher Training Practicum Application Form to be considered for this practicum,
Should your qualifications not be accepted for admittance, a full refund will be granted.
Cancellation Policy
A refund (minus $200 non-refundable and non-transferable deposit) will be made for cancellations submitted in writing 30 days prior to the training. No refunds will be allowed after that date.
In the unlikely event that the course is cancelled, UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness is responsible only for a full refund of the registration fee and not for any miscellaneous expenses.
What can I say when I have attended this training?
After attending the practicum, you may state: “_____ (your name) has attended and completed the 10-week MBSR TTP through the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute.”
What can I do when I have completed this practicum?
Upon completion of this practicum, you may enroll in the MBPTI as an MBSR Teacher-in-Training. Upon enrollment you will receive a Provisional Certificate of Qualification that indicates that you are a trainee in the institute. This allows you to offer the 8-week MBSR program to the general public under the individual guidance of MBPTI-approved mentors. You may state publicly that you are “Enrolled in the UC San Diego Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute’s MBSR Teacher Certification Program.”
MBSR Teacher Certification Program
The MBPTI at UCSD has developed the MBSR Certification Program. The program consists of two phases: being granted “Qualified Teacher” status is the first phase, which then moves into the second phase which culminates with being granted full certification as an MBSR teacher. For further information, please visit our MBSR teacher certification pages. It is our mission at the MBPTI that our MBSR trainees are not only being trained to become competent MBSR teachers but are also being invited to embark on a journey of supporting a particular kind of awareness that demonstrates an inner and outer listening along with a compassionate stance that incorporates a willingness to expand their understanding of what it means to be engaged in offering mindfulness-based programs.
Note: Upon completion of the online 10-week MBSR TTP, one will be required to have 18 mentorship sessions instead of 22 sessions while teaching two 8-week MBSR courses to apply for the MBSR Qualification status. For further information, please visit our MBSR teacher certification pages.
Testimonials
” I would highly recommend this after people had done their intensive teacher training. I found it an invaluable time to become more familiar, and find more ease and confidence, and to digest and assimilate all the many parts of the curriculum. Learning from each other over the 10 weeks was also very helpful, supporting creativity and inspiration. I think a much deeper learning was possible during the 10-week period than in 1 short week.”
“I thought Anne and Susan did a marvelous job and were a terrific complement to each other. I learned a lot from their demeanor and embodiment of the teachings. Unfailingly supportive, gentle, and encouraging, their presence was and is for me an inspiration for what this path has to offer as a life path.”
“I thought the course structure, preparing the 3 practice sessions weekly gave excellent momentum and breaking into 2 Zoom groups supported way more practice than would otherwise have been possible. Individual feedback given to each practitioner by Anne and Susan was in my view incisive and extremely helpful for us all to witness.”
“10 weeks seemed the perfect length for the class and the Zoom format worked well and managed (with Anne and Susan’s careful design of the class format) to support the development of an intimacy among the participates, particularly poignant as we were from all over the world.”
Disclosure
It is the policy of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine to ensure balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor. All persons involved in the selection, development and presentation of content are required to disclose any real or apparent conflicts of interest. All conflicts of interest will be resolved prior to an educational activity being delivered to learners through one of the following mechanisms: 1) altering the financial relationship with the commercial interest, 2) altering the individual’s control over CME content about the products or services of the commercial interest, and/or 3) validating the activity content through independent peer review. All persons are also required to disclose any discussions of off label/unapproved uses of drugs or devices. Persons who refuse or fail to disclose will be disqualified from participating in the CME activity.
Required Reading
- Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness; By Jon Kabat Zinn
- The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness: Discovering the Buddhist Teachings at the Heart of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction; Beth Mulligan
- Buddha’s Brain; Rick Hanson
- A Contemplative Dialogue: The Inquiry Process in Mindfulness-Based Interventions (2016); By Susan Woods MSW LICSW, Patricia Rockman MD CCFP FCFP, and Evan Collins MD FRCPC
Suggested Reading
- A Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness: The Comprehensive Session-by-Session Program for Mental Health Professionals and Health Care Providers; Wolf, C, Serpa, JG. New Harbinger 2015
- Heal Thy Self: Lessons on Mindfulness in Medicine; By Saki Santorelli
- Here For Now; Elana Rosenbaum
- The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion; Christopher Germer