Donald Altman – 3-Day Advanced Mindfulness Course

Outline

• Mindfulness and Cutting Edge Research
  • Mindfulness as a metacognitive skill
  • Negative effects of a wandering mind
  • Breathing reduces rumination and anxiety
  • Useful (and free) web resources
• Introduce Mindfulness to Your Clients
  • Expand your mindfulness vocabulary
  • Help clients understand mindfulness
  • Find the right metaphor
  • Using clients’ learning styles
  • Practice: Getting into the Present Moment
• The Power of Sense Grounding
  • Anxiety reduction with sense grounding
  • Mindfulness for transitioning between activities
  • Physical grounding method of dropping into the body
  • Integrate progressive muscle relaxation
  • Good for spatial, visual, hands-on learning styles
  • Practice: Palm the Present Moment
• Brain Basics, Metacognition, and Interpersonal
  • Neurobiology
  • Emotional regulation for depression and anxiety
  • Balance the brain’s default survival mode
  • Effects of cortisol on learning and immune system
  • Visual Brain Model for clients
  • The brain’s mindfulness module
  • Train the brain for calm response and metacognition
  • Navy Seals, arousal control & parasympathetic nervous system
  • Heart rate variability & relaxation response
  • Practice: The Power of Breath
  • Practice: Ask Clients the 3-Minute Question
• The Behavioral Side of Mindfulness
  • Core lifestyle skills awareness training
  • Sleep hygiene
  • Manage sleep
  • Sleep rituals and strategies
  • Healthy eating/nutrition
  • Caffeine, protein, neurotransmitters, and the brain
  • Exercise
  • Manage technology – How weapons of mass distraction may be rewiring the brain
  • Practice: Assessment of Technology and Time
  • Focus the mind (useful for ADHD)
  • Integrate breath with a word/image
  • Practice: Be the Pebble
• Mindful Laughter for Depression and Grief
  • Tools for the ”terminally serious”
  • Research on laughter and mood
  • Biochemistry of laughter & human laughter response
  • Laughter yoga and laughter in therapy
  • Practice: The Lightness of Laughter
• The Uplifting Power of Storytelling
  • Storytelling to overcome depression and build relationships
  • Fredrickson’s Broaden and Build Theory of Positive
  • Emotions
  • Broaden attention; find resilience
  • Stories are fundamental to attachment
  • Build relationships through a story of strengths
  • Practice: Identifying Strengths & Strengths Journal
• Manage Moods through Attention and Selective Memory
  • Master attention and memories
  • Savoring of the present moment
  • Practice: Here and Now Pleasantness
  • Use selective memory to savor the past and future
  • Practice: Savoring Success: Past, Present, and Future
• Harnessing Gratitude to Increase Positive Emotions
  • Manage depression with gratitude
  • Gratitude research
  • Four psychological reasons for gratitude
  • Techniques that make gratitude interpersonal and enhance supportive social networks
  • Practice: The G.L.A.D. Technique
• Heal Emotional Pain through Acceptance, Forgiveness, and Compassion
  • Forgiveness for moving forward from trauma
  • Forgiveness is a skill
  • Research on compassion practice
  • Changes in brain function
  • Security priming for feelings of safety and trust
  • Develop positive emotions and resources
  • Practice: Loving-Kindness Affirmation
• The Truth About Stress
  • Biological markers of stress: Telomeres and aging
  • Identify and assess client stress levels
  • Perceived Stress Scale
  • Epstein Stress-Management Inventory
  • Practice: Be a Smart Stress-Avoider
• Mindfulness for Addictive Cravings
  • Emotional regulation for cravings
  • Impulse control and craving control using grounding
  • Practice: S-T-O-P Grounding Technique
• Change the Perception of Pain Mindfulness for Chronic Pain
  • Introduction to the Body Scan Practice
  • Demonstrate how to pay attention non-judgmentally
  • Powerful grounding method; applications
  • Practice: Surf the Body (The Body Scan)
• The Power of Sense Grounding Trauma
  • Constructively distance from PTSD and negativity
  • Three kinds of sense grounding
  • Practice: Focusing on Favorites
• Reduce Anxiety by Mindfully Managing Transitions
• Manage transitions through movement and nature
  • Process orientation vs. outcome orientation
  • Attention Restoration Theory
  • Effects of nature on focus, moods, & healing
  • Slow down with nature to get present
  • Integrated Tools
  • Practice: Ground-Surfing (Mindful Walking)
  • Practice: Turning Down the Volume with Nature
• Re-Envision and Refocus
  • Working with difficult, unresolved life situations
  • Metacognition as a path to insight
  • Practice: Bear Meditation
• Put It All Together
  • Create a mindfulness roadmap for clients
  • Bundling practices together
  • Engage through learning styles
  • Maintain skills
  • Follow-up and reinforcement
  • Research limitations and the potential risks of mindfulness in treatment