OUTLINE  Working with emotions Schema Schema Avoidance The Antidote Conceptual framework/Schema model

OUTLINE  Teaching Mindfulness in Therapy (Clinical Applications) Beginning to practice Key Elements Of Mindfulness Techniques Designing Exercises for Patients

Working with emotions

Schema  protect us from experiencing emotional pain or deep emotions that is found in the recesses of our unconscious  make us behave and think in ways that keeps us from these emotions

Schema Avoidance  The tendency to avoid intense emotional setbacks triggered by deep emotions hidden in the unconscious

The Antidote  Mindfulness Getting in touch with your feelings and thoughts It counters schema avoidance

Conceptual framework /Schema model  Two Methods Wise reflection Sustained Awareness

Teaching Mindfulness in Therapy (Clinical Applications)

I. Beginning to practice 1.Remembering to Be 2.Getting Motivated 3.Practicing 4.Therapist Credentials

I.1: Remembering to Be  The instruction to slow down and notice what is happening in the present involves being rather than doing.

I.2: Getting Motivated  The patient must recognize the grounds and be willing to make a priority  Therapy usually starts at a time of ‘creative hopelessness’

I.3: Practicing  Practicing mindfulness has its catch – we never get it right and we never get it wrong either.  This idea of ‘practicing’ suggests that we can steadily progress, but lifelong repetition is part of practice.

I.4: Therapist Credentials  the therapist has to have spent a lot of time in formal meditation practice  has to have learned to work with a skilled teacher  the need for them to practice mindfulness may depend on how much mindfulness we bring into therapy

II. Key Elements Of Mindfulness Techniques 1.Awareness 2.Present Experience 3.Acceptance

II.1: Awareness  Stop It is a way of preparing our mind for mindfulness awareness We may also slow down to develop mindfulness so that it could be observed in greater detail

II.1: Awareness  Observe As we become conscious of our attention, we can then begin to note feelings and thoughts that arise naturally within ourselves

II.1: Awareness  Return When we notice we have become out of focus, we return awareness to its original focal point and watch where the mind takes us from there

II.2: Present Experience  One of the main goals of mindfulness is to be unified with ourselves  All exercises bring awareness to the present  This practice is therefore training attention to center on the present moment

II.3: Acceptance  This means to consider our experience without judgments or preferences  It relies wholly on full recognition of our experience  But this is always incomplete because we never stop judging

III. Designing Exercises for Patients  This selection is more of art than science  The techniques chosen must fit in the patient’s lifestyle  Here, the therapist can point out experiences the patient is avoiding, rejecting or not acclaiming

III. Designing Exercises for Patients  A good mindfulness exercise brings the patient into a closer, more aware relationship to any experience  The techniques should be negotiated with the patient and progress be monitored  Misunderstandings that cause the patient to suspend sessions should be addressed