MBSR Home

About this Program

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an experiential program developed and popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn at UMass Medical School over the past 25 years. MBSR has been shown in clinical research to have a profound effect on ones ability to effectively regulate the mind, and consequently the emotions and to a significant degree, physical health. It is used in complementary and alternative medicine programs at a number of universities, including UMass, Stanford, Duke, U of Virginia, UC San Francisco and many others around the world (i.e. 250+ universities and hospitals worldwide according to a recent count). With its focus on the development of non-judgmental awareness of our moment-to-moment experience, MBSR offers a powerful, integrated approach to working with our daily physical, emotional and psychological stress, as well as offering powerful coping tools for dealing with chronic pain and debilitating illness. For many, this program provides a solid foundation for deep emotional healing and spiritual growth.

This program can provide 20 Continuing Educational Credits if you are a: Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed School Psychologist, Dietitian/Nutritionist or Nutrition Counselor or Licensed Nurse Midwife. Fourteen of these credits are for in class participation, six are for Home Study materials with tests (i.e. 3 journal articles related to MBSR's application in clinical settings). The fee for processing these 20 CEUs of $60. Learn more about CEUs.

About the Practice of Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be described as intentionally paying attention to the present moment without being pulled into the mind’s usual elaborations of judgment, internal dialog and the emotional reactions such elaborations can trigger. It is being with the experience of the moment with gentle compassion and a strong disciplined intention to simply stay present with whatever is happening in the moment, allowing space for the experience to raise and fall away without adding our usual overlay of suffering, frustration or panic. More about Mindfulness.

In this program, we will learn to come into and remain in the richness of the present moment. We will focus on bringing our attention to our breath, physical sensations, thoughts and feelings through a variety of meditation techniques including mindful yoga, sitting, walking and eating meditation as well as mindful speaking and listening.

How will what I will learn through MBSR help to reduce my stress?

Stress research has shown us that it is not so much the stressor itself, but how it is perceived and what the mind/body does in reaction to that perception that’s determines whether or not we experience distress in response to a stressor.

By cultivating mindfulness we learn to relate to our experience with less anxiety and fear, allowing more space between experience and perception. With this skill, we can move from mindless reactivity to skillful response, from a sense of urgency to a calm inner peace. We bring a more compassionate attitude towards ourselves and our situations and therefore cause ourselves less suffering through unskillful reactive habits (e.g. a host of addictions, venting anger inappropriately, poor self care).

The skills learned through MBSR training can help reconnect us with our sense of wholeness regardless of what challenges we are facing. We can experience greater balance in our lives regardless of how chaotic things may appear from the outside. These skills can be helpful to those living with work or family stress, relationship issues, mid-life transitions, emotional and psychological challenges, chronic pain or physical illness.

Those who practice mindfulness techniques, commonly report experiencing:

- A relaxed awareness of the present moment
- Enhanced psychological flexibility
- Release of unhelpful attachment or aversion
- Greater stress tolerance and impulse control
- Clarity and awareness of thought patterns
- Greater insight

Clinical research findings related to MBSR and other Mindfulness-Based programs over the past 20 - 25 years are very encouraging. Those completing these programs consistently demonstrate and report long-lasting improvements such as:

- Improved health-related quality of life
- Increased sense of life meaning and manageability
- Reduced anxiety & depression
- Enhanced self-esteem and activity levels
- Reduced chronic pain and physical distress
- Fewer panic type experiences
- Strengthened immunity
- Increased social activity and vitality
- Reduced tension, anger, and fatigue
- Improved sleep quality
- Reduced pain-related drug use
- Improved emotion regulation, reduced anxiety
- Halved rates of depression
- Decreased blood pressure
- Optimal states of relaxed alertness
- Decreased psychiatric hospitalizations
- Reduced harmful behaviors
- Reduced substance abuse
- Decreased interpersonal problems
- Fewer and less intense headaches
- Brain activity associated with positive emotion

Read what some of our participants had to say after completing this program. To learn more about this powerful program, see a recent review article (.pdf file), abstracts of recent MBSR research and associated references, and Mind Body Health Associates.

In this program which closely follows the model developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, seven (or at times eight) weekly two hour sessions (sometimes extended to 2.5 hours with larger groups) combine with a full day (i.e. 7 hour) retreat at week six, seven or eight for a total of 21 to 27 hours total in-class instruction. There are daily homework exercises and training CDs for further deepening awareness during ordinary daily activities. To help extend and deepen the life-enhancing effects of this program, annual full day "reunion" retreats are available to all graduates of this program at no charge for as long as I continue to offer this program.

The fee for this eight week program is on a sliding scale, based upon ability to pay, and ranges from $300 to $500 (not including $60 CEU fee). You set your own fee based upon your financial situation and ability to pay, no questions asked. Costs include: (1) in-class instruction, (2) four training CDs (i.e. Body Scan and Guided Meditation, each 45 minutes and when co-led by Lena Koob-Emunds: Mindful Hatha Yoga, 70 minutes, and Yoga Nedra, 60 minutes. When I teach solo, I provide my 2 Mindful Hatha Yoga CDs, 45-minutes each. (3) Weekly homework reading materials are provided via .pdf files to avoid the need to print out the 70+ pages of material and to allow easy access to related materials via the web for those who wish to deepen their knowledge of a particular subject area. (4) Free access to all future MBSR Day-long Reunion Retreats.

It is my sincere hope that anyone interested in participating in this program can do so regardless of ability to pay. Therefore, I have established a fund for partial scholarships. If you would like to be considered for a scholarship or feel moved to contribute to this fund, please drop me a note at: mbsr@BeMindful.org .

To see if this powerful 8 week program is a good fit for you, simply drop me an email at mbsr@BeMindful.org or better yet, give me a call at 813-980-2700. You may also wish to attend one of my introductory workshops on: MBSR, Mindfulness Meditation, Intimate Relationships, Emotional Alchemy or related topics that I offer from time to time. Learn about upcoming programs

Mindfulness in Psychotherapy: a 24-CEU Program for Mental Health Professionals

This program is designed to meet the interest and needs of those providing psychotherapy in any setting, private practice or within an agency, who are seeking to integrate the process of mindfulness into their work as well as in their personal lives.

This program can provide 24 Continuing Educational Credits if you are a: Licensed Psychologist, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed School Psychologist or Licensed Nurse Midwife. Twelve of these credits are for in class participation, twelve are for Home Study materials with tests (i.e. 6 journal articles related to the clinical research and various applications of Mindfulness to clinical settings). The fee for processing these 24 CEUs of $75. Learn more about CEUs. Other licensures allowing the practice of psychotherapy such as M.D, are also welcome to attend but no CEU/CME can be awarded. And with approval, a graduate student in one of these fields in their final year of coursework may participate.

Cultivating ones personal practice of mindfulness allows movement into a rich spaciousness that allows one to sit with the discomforts associated with working with others who are in pain. This openness not only lessens the therapist’s discomfort, it encourages the client to open to a deeper healing space. Through deepening the practice of mindfulness, reactivity gradually falls away and is replaced by loving patience and equanimity toward ourselves and others.

This 6 week group experience will be an interactive one, limited to 12 participants and will provide:

- an intellectual understanding of the application of mindfulness to psychotherapy through exploration of the professional literature on the application and effectiveness of mindfulness with a variety of client populations. In addition to this overview, each participant will be supported in more deeply researching any particular interest area they may have such as addictions, physical illness, chronic pain, etc.

- an experiential understanding of this powerful practice through a variety of meditation practices and exercises

- the cultivation of the complimentary skills of mindfulness and concentration that are the foundation of this practice

- practical suggestions for the use this powerful process with specific client populations and treatment issues

- a safe setting for processing issues related to current and on-going cases and personal issues

Learn more specific information about this powerful program and when it will bo offered.

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Mindfulness-Based Group Therapy: Making Space for Deep Healing

The practices of Mindfulness Meditation have many helpful fruits. Perhaps the one most closely related to the process of psychological and emotional healing is the ability to open to subtle discomfort in the body/mind with compassion and gentle curiosity. This ability is a powerful resource when engaged in the process of deep recovery and/or grief work, inviting the sensitive material to rise into awareness where it can be acknowledged, processed and released. As this energy can be the fuel for reactive, compulsive processes, it's release can lead to freedom from depression, anxiety, a host of addictive behaviors as well as from general distress and discomfort in one's daily life.

As one’s mindfulness practice deepens, it becomes clear that suppressing or expressing these disturbing energies is unnecessary and unproductive. By bravely opening to them, intentionally breathing into the discomfort with an attitude of compassionate, disciplined observation; they move through the body/mind and are released. The discomfort falls away.

If you have been struggling with long-standing issues for some time, perhaps been engaged in psychotherapy for many years but do not feel you have gotten to the core of your problem and are ready to dig a little deeper, this may well be the program for you.

This program is designed to skillfully facilitate this type of release of pent up emotional and psychological energy. The power of the group format is enhanced by the safety of the structure we provide and the guidelines all participants agree to follow. The group will be limited to only 10 members to insure an intimate and safe environment.

This 6-week group therapy experience will have a foundation of structured supportive guidance, mutual trust and respect for confidentiality and personal boundaries. This will provide a safe container for you to move deeply within and to freely allow the energy to move through and out of your body/mind/spirit. As we have learned through meditation, we don't have to surpress or express these energies, we can simply open to them with an attitude of compassionate observation.

We will hold the space for this work, honoring each member's process as we sit silently and as I offer guided support in meditation for 25 to 60 minute sessions followed by process and Q/A periods. You will be encouraged to deepen your sitting practice and to journal about your experiences and share only what you feel comfortable sharing with the group.

Program Overview

This is a 6-week intensive program utilizing the stabilizing qualities of mindfulness mediation for deep healing of blocked or long-standing emotional issues (e.g. childhood abuse, other emotional and/or psychological trauma) as well as reactive patterns associated with physical pain from illness or disease.

Drawing on the power of mindfulness practices for support, we will create a safe space for investigation, acknowledgement and release of increasingly subtle discomforts within the mind/body by allowing space for the underlying energy to move through. We will be cultivating the skills of equanimity and spacious non-reactivity when experiences of anxiety, fear, sadness and depression rise into awareness, giving these energies room to fall away without the mind’s usual elaborations of clinging and aversion.

I will offer specific instructions throughout the program not only on deepening the practices of mindfulness meditation but on dealing with common obstacles such as 'the mind that wants to know,' the 'I can fix it all in my head' syndrome and 'this pain is too much to sit with' reaction. We’ll have others come up, I’m sure, and they will be addressed in turn.

While the 2 hour sessions will focus primarily on sitting meditation, we will also take short breaks with mindful Hatha yoga staying as much as possible 'in process' and 'within our direct experience' as it unfolds. Much more will be shared about this process and these issues as the program moves along.

Learn more specific information about this powerful program and when it will bo offered.

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