MINDFULNESS-BASED STRESS REDUCTION
Five Day Intensive MBSR Practicum
2nd – 7th April, 2009,
Otford, NSW
With Timothea
Goddard,
Sue Hays, Eva Papadopoulo &
Don Spencer
Structure
of the Intensive Practicum
The
Intensive Practicum has two parts:
i. Prior attendance at an eight
week MBSR program or equivalent.
(eg. MBCT
eight week program)
This prior experience will mean that
practicum participants already share an understanding of how the four
foundations of mindfulness are taught in an MBSR context, the shape of the
program, how instructors engage with participants and the group process. We
hope it will also allow participants to immerse themselves in the program freed
from some of the assumptions and constraints that we as professionals often
impose on ourselves in learning situations.
(Please contact us to
discuss this if you have questions or difficulties in meeting this
recommendation. If you live in a city or rural area which has no 8 week
programs on offer, please contact us to discuss how you might get some
experience of the program by distance education.)
ii. A five day residential
retreat to explore the MBSR program and its application in your work and life.
Over the
five days, we will explore the MBSR program using a range of didactic,
experiential and small group work and providing opportunities to practice
teaching it to one another with the supervision of the instructors.
Specific
areas of focus will include:
q
Refining and deepening personal mindfulness practice (through formal and
informal practices, in silence and in dialogue)
q
An exploration of the development of MBSR, the theory underpinning it
and the research into its efficacy
q
Exploration of key aspects of the program including leading and
inquiring into practice
q
Exploring the value of mindfulness in attending to physical and
emotional difficulties including depression, anxiety, pain and stress within
ourselves and our clients
q On-going
self-inquiry
Pre-requisites
Practicum
applicants are required to:
Preference will be given to
suitable applicants who have already attended an MBSR course or equivalent.
Retreat experience and training in MBSR
Regarding retreat experience for MBSR teachers, the
Center for Mindfulness, UMass., advises:
Teaching Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) requires the capacity to meet our own suffering and
that of others with attention, resilience, transparency, and compassion. For
most people, cultivating these qualities is both cumulative and non-linear.
Because wonder and inquiry into
the nature of the self and reality is an essential practice for MBSR teachers,
your engagement in a daily practice of mindfulness meditation and on-going participation
in silent, teacher-led retreats is critically important. We recommend
attendance at retreat centers that emphasize Theravadan Buddhist teachings
because the spirit, practices, and attitudes of MBSR are reflective of this
tradition. Other consciousness disciplines that include many days of silence,
interaction with a meditation teacher, and practice in a style of meditation
that encourages spaciousness and introspection may be acceptable.
We are lucky that there are many opportunities in Australia
to undertake a silent, teacher-led retreat. Below are a few websites which give
some info about retreats. Please contact Timothea Goddard
(tim@openground.com.au ) if you wish to discuss the different styles of
retreat.
(Please note:
The Stillness in Action retreats and the Insight
Dialogue retreats are very worthwhile and would certainly contribute to your
learning but they are not silent.)
http://www.dhamma.org/en/cnc/centers-anz.shtml
Teachers
The
teachers of the Practicum bring many years of experience in the fields of
psychotherapy, education, body awareness and mindfulness practice. Since 2004,
they have been involved in developing and teaching MBSR programs in Australia,
and in teaching other professionals.
Timothea Goddard
BA,
Dip. Psychotherapy (ANZAP), PACFA Reg. Workplace training Cert IV, Acc. MBSR
Teacher, UMass.
Timothea
works as a psychotherapist, educator and workplace trainer, with an interest in
body-oriented and developmental psychotherapy and also in contemporary CBT.
Bringing mindfulness into her clinical and teaching work has been deepened by
being a long-time student in the practices of Aikido (Shodan), yoga, and
meditation. She has been teaching MBSR since 2004, and is an accredited MBSR
teacher with the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society,
University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA, and maintains strong
professional links there. She is the Director of Openground, a group which
offers MBSR in health and workplace contexts in Australia.
Sue
Hays
MSc,
MClinPsych, MAPS, M. Australian Pain Society,
Sue
is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice who has worked in a variety of
mental health and rehabilitation settings over the past twenty years. She has
taught MBSR classes since 2004 and has integrated the principles of mindfulness
in her clinical practice. She has observed the benefits of mindfulness in
particular for patients with chronic illness and persistent pain and also those
suffering from traumatic stress, depression and anxiety. In 2004, she attended
MBSR Professional Training course, led by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli,
and in 2006 completed the Teacher Development Intensive in MBSR at the Center
for Mindfulness, Worcester, in the USA. Sue runs the Canberra branch of
Openground Training and Consulting.
Eva Papadopoulo
Grad.Dip Psychotherapy,
M.A.A.S.P., P.A.C.F.A. Reg.
Eva
is in private practice as a psychotherapist and also works as an educator
having trained in contemporary psychotherapy including body-oriented, developmental
and relational orientations. These approaches provide the context for her
interest in self-regulation and trauma, concepts fundamental to her
understanding of the benefits of a mindfulness approach in her clinical
practice, group work and teaching. Eva has also had extensive experience in
using mindfulness for pain management in the areas of cancer, HIV and AIDS. Her
interest in a mindfulness approach both personally and professionally has been
deepened through many years of training in various meditations, yoga,
Ortho-Bionomy, Body Mind Centering (BMC) and theatre and dance improvisation.
Eva is a senior MBSR teacher with Openground.
Dr
Don Spencer
Don
is a medical practitioner with over 25 years experience working
in public sector mental health and alcohol and drug services. He is a long
time student of vipassana meditation, and has a strong interest in the
application of mindfulness-based interventions in health. In
2007, he completed the Openground Professional Practicum Training in
MBSR and in 2008, the MBCT Intensive Training, in Adelaide, led by
Melissa Blacker, Centre for Mindfulness and Melanie Fennell, Oxford University.
Don is currently collaborating with Alan Marlatt, University of Washington, to
establish Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP)programs in public sector
alcohol and drug services in Queensland.
Pre-Reading
The following books are
pre-reading for the program. Three CD ROMs of additional reading material
(articles and curriculum information) will be sent to you on payment of your
Practicum fee.
Full Catastrophe
Living
(1990), Kabat-Zinn, Dell Publishing, New York, NY, USA
Mindfulness Based
Cognitive Therapy for Depression: A New Approach to Preventing Relapse (2002), Segal,
Williams, Teasdale, Guilford Press, New York, NY, USA
Heal Thyself, (1999), Santorelli,
Random House
The Mindful Brain , (2007), Siegel, D.,
Norton: New York.
Cost
Application fee: $100 (non-refundable)
Payable on
application
Intensive practicum retreat cost (including full board) and GST:
$2100.00
FEE SCHEDULE
Application fee $100 on
application (non-refundable)
Deposit:
$300 on
acceptance
(After
payment of deposit, you will be sent course materials
including
3 CD Roms of reading materials, kindly provided by the
Center
for Mindfulness, UMass, for this training in Australia.)
Final:
$1800 by the 15th
March, 2009
Deposit will be
retained if you withdraw later than 25th March, 2009.
Payment Options
Fees may be paid by cheque or EFT (credit card facilities are not
available at this time).
Payment by EFT via internet banking details are as follows:
Bank: ANZ BSB: 012-241 Account No: 4990-00818
Please
email a PDF copy of your transfer receipt to Openground at info@openground.com.au
and include your surname in the reference field.
Payment
by cheque:
Make
cheque out to Openground and post to:
Registrar
Openground
3/71
Boronia Rd
Bellevue
Hill NSW 2023
Application process
To apply, please email
your CV and a cover letter detailing your personal development, educational and
career experience, as well as your meditation experience. Please include: years
of meditation experience, regularity of practice, as well as the tradition(s)
in which you practice and note all teacher-led, silent retreats you have
attended. Address such issues as the meaning of practice in your life and work,
what has drawn you to participate in this program, and your vision or
intentions for integrating this into your work.
Please
send:
- your
electronic application
- your
payment or confirmation of payment
via the
Openground administrator, Brenda Rowlandson at: info@openground.com.au
3/71 Boronia Rd
Bellevue Hill NSW 2023
To find out
more
Contact
Timothea Goddard