Teach Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) - certified

What did MBCT set out to address? How was it created, and in which conditions? What was the rationale behind it, and what was it modelled on? This lecture has the answers!

Welcome to the first unit of the programme, where your students will realise how much of their lives they actually miss out on - because their minds are not actually there!

Before you start delivering the programme, it's a good idea to set your students' expectations. Most of them will be new to mindfulness, and there might be misconceptions to clear!

Week 1 is all about autopilot. Doing the raisin exercise with your students will start driving home just how much of the time our mind is somewhere else, and how much we miss. This week, your students will also do their first body scan.

The downloadable materials for this unit include an audio track of my own version of a body scan, and an excellent step-by-step walkthrough from the Greater Good Science Center, which I highly recommend you to visit.

Of course, free relevant audio tracks for each unit also come with the "MBCT for Depression" textbook - so feel free to choose the one to use with your students, or offer them a choice: we often have preferences for certain processes or voices.

Most of your students will be beginners - so be ready to face these frequently expressed doubts, and to provide much-needed reassurance!

This is the homework you will give your students in week 1.

For each unit, you will find any forms you need in the downloadable materials, in PDF and Word versions.

This week, your students will start glimpsing a more direct, experiential way of living; they will also have their first breathing meditation. After their first week of practice, they'll probably have lots of questions for you - be ready!

After practising on their own for a week, your students will be keen to share their experience and compare notes. Make sure you encourage discussion and resolve any doubts before moving on to the content for week 2.

Here are some questions you might be asked.

Here are some more questions you might be asked!

Week 2 is about thoughts, how we identify with them, and how they drive our emotions. This session contains the first Cognitive Therapy exercise for your learners, and their first breathing meditation. In the additional materials, you will find my own recording of a breathing meditation suitable for beginners.

This is the homework you will give your students for week 2.

By now, your students will have realised how frequently they're lost in thought. The breath and the body are two convenient anchors for our attention, as they're always available! This week, we will also explore mindful movement and mindful walking.

This week, your students will deepen their understanding of the difference between the chattering of the mind, and being with experience as it is.

Any movement can be mindful, but here are some examples of simple, gentle ones you can do with your students to help them focus on the bare sensations of their bodies moving.

This week you will also introduce your students to mindful walking and the "Three-Minute Breathing Space" or the STOP exercise.

In the additional materials, you will find my own recording of the STOP exercise, which you might like to use as an alternative to the 3-Minute Breathing Space suggested by the textbook. You will also find a mindful walking practice as set out by the Greater Good Science Center.

These are the movements suggested in the list in the previous lesson. It is safe to say that I will never shoot fitness videos for a living!

This is the homework you will give your students in week 3.

In Buddhism, it's called "the second arrow": the suffering we inflict on ourselves by resisting difficult experience. This week, your students will learn that this is not the only way. They will also use sounds as an anchor for attention - and discover how thoughts can be observed in a similar way.

We automatically judge anything that happens to us as positive or negative (or in between!), and react accordingly - seeking out pleasant experiences, and recoiling from unpleasant ones. Mindfulness is a very different way of approaching life.

So far, your students have used the breath and the body as anchors for their attention. This week, they will incorporate sounds and thoughts in their practice - and they'll be surprised to draw parallels between the two!

In the additional materials, you will find my own recording of a mindfulness of sound practice. It doesn't contain mindfulness of thoughts - it can be used as a 'shortcut' for days when your students are unable to commit to the full practice from the set book.

The Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire is a list of 30 statements which measures the frequency of negative statements about the self. Your students might begin to notice a difference in their thought patterns at this stage, and to realise that thoughts are just thoughts - not facts!

This is the homework you will give your students this week.

Allowing, accepting, opening up to experience, even when it's difficult. Week 5 introduces your students to a very different strategy, and also to self-compassion as a valuable tool.

Up to this point, your students' main focus has been on awareness of experience. We're now going to add acceptance to it. But what does "acceptance" really mean? Find out here.

In the book, the mindfulness practice for this week is "Working with Difficulty". I use the "Soften, Soothe, Allow", which is virtually identical, but also contains the valuable extra element of self-compassion.

In the additional materials, you will find the Soften, Soothe, Allow practice from the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion, plus a link to an audio track of it. I have also included one of my recordings - if your students are interested in developing their self-compassion, they will enjoy this practice, which uses the concept of talking to yourself as you would to a friend.

In this unit you will find informed answers you can give your students, should they produce these common objections to the practice of self-compassion!

This is the homework that you will give your students this week.

Thoughts are not facts! This realisation is life-changing in itself. As our feelings hinge upon our thoughts - or interpretations of events, rather than on the events themselves, it is well worth observing our thoughts. We can do so without needing to act on them - or react.

We interpret information all the time, as soon as it is presented - and if we are depressed, the interpretation will probably be negative. It is wise to keep in mind that the thoughts we have about reality are not reality!

This week, you again have a choice! The book repeats the Mindfulness of Breath, Body, Sounds and Thoughts. I introduce two new practices aimed at recognising thoughts as thoughts. Your pick!

In the additional materials, you will find my own recording of the Breathing With Spaciousness meditation, and a step-by-step script to guide your students on the Thoughts on Leaves meditation. This version is from the book "ACT Made Simple: An Easy-To-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" by Russ Harris. I have also included a link to an audio track of it.

We get into a low mood. Then we interpret an event in a negative way. Which puts us in a low mood. Be aware of context!

This is the homework you will ask your students to do this week.

The MBCT programme is nearing the end, and you are preparing your students for life beyond the course. By now, they have a list of "skilful choices" they will resort to when they recognise the warning signs of approaching depression. It's now time for them to form a plan.

Having explored A for awareness and B for Being, this week we are looking at the C of choice. Your students are now ready to make empowered choices for dealing with depression.

Which activities lift your mood? Which ones lower it? And how can we do more of the uplifting ones? It's time to get organised.

Depression makes us feel lethargic and hopeless, so it's important to know what our strategies are, and have plans in place, in case it strikes again.

This is the homework you will ask your students to do this week.

The final week! Time for your students to look back and celebrate their new understanding, strategies and achievements.

The additional materials include my own recording of a Loving-Kindness practice (also called "Metta" meditation) suitable for beginners. It would be a good choice for your last group meditation!

Time for you to celebrate completing this course too! Congratulations!

It's the final session! It's time for your students to compare insights, celebrate their journey and achievements, and look to the future.

The additional materials include my own recording of a Loving-Kindness practice (also called "Metta" meditation) suitable for beginners. It would be a good choice for your last group meditation!