Overview

There are many different pathways of training offered in Australia at the moment.
We are committed to a model that includes having a personal practice and retreat experience as a basis for teaching mindfulness. (This is in line with the Center for Mindfulness's recommendations and also the recommendations of the authors of the MBCT program.)

Download an overview:
"Mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction"

Orientation to Training
Openground has based its Practicum model on the Center for Mindfulness' (CFM) Practicum which was initiated in 1981 at the UMass Medical Center, Worcester, USA, to provide health care professionals and others with a practical and conceptual understanding of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program.
In line with the orientation at the CFM, we believe that qualification for teaching mindfulness - based groups involves development in two areas of learning:
Inward-oriented learning is aimed at refining one's intrinsic capacities for meditation, contemplation, self-reflection, and self-knowledge. This approach to learning is directed toward the cultivation of wisdom through the on-going development of innate qualities such as non-judgmental observation, active listening, flexibility, presence, insight, and compassion.
Outward-oriented learning is targeted toward the understanding and attainment of well-defined technical skills and competencies in all curricula associated with MBSR and an ability to apply these core methods and skills in diverse situations and settings.

Pathways of Training
The Center for Mindfulness has laid out a pathway of training in MBSR which you can click on here to download: http://www.umassmed.edu/uploadedFiles/cfm2/training/2008-09_OasisBrochure.pdf

It involves involves undertaking various kinds of training (mostly offered in intensive residential settings), cultivating your own practice through meditation and retreats and supervision of your teaching work.