2-Day Intensive Training: Mindfulness Certification Course

Credit

Handouts

Faculty

Debra Premashakti Alvis, PhD Related seminars and products

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Debra Alvis, PhD, a licensed psychologist, developed the Mind/Body Program at the University of Georgia providing clinician training on the integration of mindfulness and contemplative practices into psychotherapy.  Her work as a professor at the University of Georgia included the supervision of doctoral students and co-leading a research team investigating mindfulness.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Alvis maintains a private practice and has more than 25 years of clinical experience in treating clients with a variety of conditions by combining mindfulness principles, body-oriented principles and traditional psychotherapeutic approaches. She also has an over 30-year personal contemplative practice.

Dr. Alvis lectures and leads retreats around the world. Her trainings have helped thousands of clinicians to integrate the richness of Mindfulness, neuroscience and somatic psychotherapies with cognitive approaches for greater clinical effectiveness.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Debra Alvis maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with the University of Georgia, PSIvet, Mountain Area Health Education Center, Twin Lakes Recovery Center, and Ridgeview Institute. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Debra Alvis has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

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Objectives

1. Review the empirical support concerning the clinical applications of mindfulness.
2. Utilize easy to understand language to describe how mindfulness affects the neurological processes underlying clinical disorders.
3. Assess for potential contraindications for the use of mindfulness with clients.
4. Apply mindfulness skills to strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
5. Employ mindfulness practices to impact the stress reaction and shift clients to a relaxation response.
6. Use the mindfulness skills of awareness and metacognition to counter automatic thought patterns related to anxiety and depression.
7. Apply loving-kindness meditations to increase client well-being and relationship quality.
8. Practice the use of R.A.I.N. (Recognize, Accept, Investigate, Non-Attachment) to identify triggers and work with cravings that could lead to addiction relapse.
9. Utilize present-moment awareness and deep breathing practices to manage physiological and emotional anger responses.
10. Employ grounding techniques and breathing exercises to increase feelings of safety in traumatized clients.
11. Integrate brief mindfulness practices into clinical treatment to improve client engagement.
12. Demonstrate the three steps of the Giving and Receiving Self-compassion practice to increase clinician presence and improve clinical outcomes.
13. Adapt mindfulness practices for diverse populations to improve clinical efficacy.

Outline

• Empirical support for improved symptomology and well-being
• The latest research on therapists who practice mindfulness
• Your mindfulness practice and how you can embody mindfulness
• Situations that may contraindicate applying mindfulness in session
• Research limitations

• Mindfulness vocabulary
• Visuals and metaphors to explain mindfulness
• Motivate clients with neuroplasticity

• Overcoming barriers
• Affect regulation techniques for therapist and client
• Strategies to create empathetic connection
• Exercises to build clients trust in themselves

• Tips for teaching clients about the senses and awareness
• Strategies to shift from “Automatic Pilot”
• Skill building interventions to increase responsiveness & reduce reactivity
• Strategies to cultivate attunement
• Approaches for deepened experience of mindfulness
• Brief and other informal practices
• How to adapt practices to special populations

• Effectiveness of group vs. individual mindfulness
• How to set up and conduct a mindfulness group
  • Screening for individual goodness of fit
  • Encouraging client buy-in and commitment to practice
• Mindfulness interventions specifically designed for groups

• Breathing practices that break the rumination cycle
• Guided visualizations to lower the stress response
• Movement strategies
• Multi-sensory regulation techniques
• Mindfully reduce the intensity of panic attacks

• Muscle tension releasing – exercises to counter fight or flight
• Guided meditations to disempower intrusive thoughts
• Grounding exercises and sample scripts

• Recognize self-criticism and respond with self-love
• Manage negative self-talk with awareness of thoughts
• Meditations to boost well-being

• Awareness vs. autopilot -- relapse prevention
• Mindfulness for triggers
• Emotional regulation for cravings

• Breathe through anger
• Distraction and grounding techniques
• Self-soothe with calming words and imagery

• Adapt mindfulness experiences with cultural sensitivity
• Assess appropriateness of mindfulness interventions for individuals
• Negotiate the treatment plan

• Right here/right now – stay in the moment to reduce anxieties
• Effective and healthy ways to manage your emotions
• Change limiting stories about caring for yourself
• Release the negative – 3 steps to countering negativity bias

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Addiction Counselors
• Case Managers
• School Counselors
• Nurses
• Physicians
• Other Mental Health Professionals

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