CYC Counseling Program Presents: A Day of Mindfulness for Therapists (and other helping professionals)

CYC Counseling Program Presents: A Day of Mindfulness for Therapists

(and other helping professionals)

Friday, November 19th, 2010

9 to 4pm

at the

The Boght Arts Center 583 Boght Road, Cohoes

This day-long program offers an introduction to mindfulness practice for therapists and other helping professionals. We will practice mindfulness and explore the benefits of mindfulness for both self-care and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship. Consider this a day of relaxation, reconnection and replenishment

Background
Over the past decade, mindfulness, the cultivation of intentional, present-focused awareness, has emerged as a significant influence on contemporary psychotherapy. Grounded in the 2500 year-old tradition of Buddhist meditation and psychology, mindfulness is a key component in a wide variety of empirically validated interventions, including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Neuroscientists are mapping how mindfulness training can change the brain, and scholars are taking a fresh look at the nature of “self,” emotion regulation, com-passion, wisdom, and the far reaches of human potential. The principles of mindfulness offer a compelling, new understanding of how psychological problems are created and alleviated.
Mindfulness is a core healing process in psychotherapy. It can be used to strengthen the therapy relationship and to enhance the lives of patients and clients through the formal or informal practice of mindfulness meditation. Clinicians who practice mindfulness meditation may reap the rewards of more sustained interpersonal connection and enjoyment of the therapy process.

Mindfulness
Mindfulness is defined by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, as “The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.” Through mindfulness, we learn to cultivate freedom and joy within our everyday experience.

With the busy pace of our lives, it is easy to find ourselves lost in the past or carried away by the future. Mindfulness practice helps us to return to ourselves and an inner sense of steadiness, ease and well being. We cultivate a nourishing connection to ourselves in the present moment that becomes a source of strength and support in facing pain, anger, confusion, self doubt, shame, and other difficult feelings and thoughts both in ourselves and with our clients. Thus, mindfulness is a skill that allows us to be less reactive to what is happening in the present moment. It is a way of relating to all experience – positive, negative, and neutral – such that our overall level of suffering is reduced and our sense of well-being increases.

When we are mindful, our attention is not entangled in the past or future, and we are not judging or rejecting what is occurring at the moment. We are present. This kind of energy generates clearheadedness and joy. By not judging our experience, we are more likely to see it as it is.

Mindfulness in Psychotherapy
As clinicians, mindfulness is a profound support to our work. By cultivating acceptance and awareness in the face of all of life’s experience we create a reservoir of ease and a capacity to be with our own and our client’s experience. This Day of Mindfulness for Therapists is an opportunity to refresh your practice and cultivate a depth of stillness and attention that will enhance your therapeutic skills. Moments of mindful attention are often available to us – but they can be fleeting and easily lost to the habitual power of discursive thought. By practicing mindfulness, we enhance our ability to remain present and connected both in our work and in our lives.

This workshop is appropriate for therapists and all others who seek a deeper ability to connect in a helping relationship through the practice of mindfulness.

Karen Beetle, LMHC
This program is facilitated by Karen Beetle MA, LMHC. Karen is a psychotherapist, mindfulness teacher, and long term meditator. She provides therapy through the Colonie Youth Center, Capital EAP, and in private practice. She teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction, and offers workshops on mindfulness and wilderness meditation retreats. Read her blogs on mindfulness for the Times Union at http://blogs.timesunion.com/holistic health.

Registration
For more information, contact the Colonie Youth Center’s Counseling Program at 422-4356 or Karen Beetle atkabeetle@aol.com. The cost for this workshop is $85. Lunch is included.

To register, send your name, address, e-mail and a check for $85 made out to the Colonie Youth Center to: Colonie Youth Center, 21 Aviation Rd. Colonie, NY 12205. You will receive confirmation and directions by e-mail.