MBCT Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy - For Helping Professionals (1)

Facilitators  Connie Au-Yeung & Dr. Yasmin Gunaratnam

Time   Tuesdays, 9.30am - 11.30am

Dates  June 04, 11, 25   |  July 02, 09, 16, 13, 23, 30 

Retreat  Half day on Saturday 13th July, 10am - 2pm

Course Summary: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a therapeutic approach that combines the idea of cognitive behavioural therapy with mindfulness practices. 

This interactive online course follows the NICE-recommended MBCT programme, addressing stress, anxiety and reactivity to enhance overall physical and mental well-being through mindful awareness cultivation. The benefits of MBCT can include:

• Increased self-awareness and self-confidence
• Raised ability to handle stressful situations
• Learning how to handle your thoughts, moods and emotions more effectively
• Improved cognitive effectiveness and capacity for decision-making
• Enhanced focus and attention

About the Facilitators:

 

Connie Au-Yeung, MA, MBCT & Deeper Mindfulness Teacher

Connie is a British Hongkonger, passionate about bringing secular mindfulness practices to diverse and multicultural communities.   She has a background in language teaching, medical communication and science research. 

Having worked in London, Tokyo, Doha and Cairo and raising a bilingual family in Devon, Connie is passionate about bringing secular mindfulness practices to diverse and multicultural communities. "I see mindfulness cultivation as a space for deepening connection, belonging and presence.

Educational Background: Masters Degrees in Applied Linguistics and TESOL (University of Leicester) and Neuroscience and Developmental Biology (University of Cambridge).

Personal Practices: Insight meditation practitioner since 2011, compassion, Insight Dialogue, pilates, and Qigong.

Mindfulness Teacher Training: The Mindfulness Network, Sussex Mindfulness Centre and Oxford Mindfulness Foundation.

Yasmin Gunaratnam, MSc, PhD, Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher

Yasmin is a Professor in Social Justice at the Centre for Public Policy Research, Kings College (London) researching health, migration, loss, and healing. Originally from Sri Lanka, she is a seasoned Yogi and academic with over 25 years of experience in teaching and training across the non-profit sectors,  including university lecturing since 2008. 

Yasmin is dedicated to inclusive mindfulness and addressing social injustices.  She explores simple mindfulness practices to awaken awareness, drawing from her research on health, migration, and healing. "The beauty of mindfulness is that this type of 'falling awake' can happen through small practices that can be easily learnt"

Educational Background: MSC Sociology with special reference to medicine (Royal Holloway), PhD. Social Policy and Administration (LSE).

Personal Practices: Explores contemplative social justice and embodied pedagogies; mindfulness and neurodiversity and the effects of living with social injustice.

Mindfulness Teacher Training: The Mindfulness Network (Teacher Training Level One) and Oxford Mindfulness Foundation.

About the Course

In this weekly online course, Connie and Yasmin follow the MBCT programme to train participants in mindfulness and meditation for wellbeing, working with stress, anxiety & reactivity.  This course includes:

• Meditation practices
• Short talks
• Discussion Groups
• Links to audio recordings for home use

Apart from the initial orientation session, each subsequent two-hour online weekly session consists of mindfulness meditation and cognitive therapy exercises designed to increase body and mind awareness and develop capacities to step back from automatic reactivity and unhelpful habits of thinking like rumination, worry and self-criticism. 

Course Schedule

Orientation Week  - Tue, 04 Jun 

Session 1: Automatic Pilot - Tue, 11 Jun

Session 2: Living in our Heads - Tue, 16 Jun

Session 3: Gathering the Scattered Mind - Tue, 25 Jun

Session 4: Recognising Reactivity - Tue, 02 Jul

Session 5: Gently Being with the Difficult - Tue, 09 Jul

Session 6: Thoughts are not Necessarily Facts - Tue, 16 Jul

Retreat Week: Half Day Practice - Sat, 13 Jul

Session 7: How can I Best Take Care of Myself? - Tue, 23 Jul

Session 8: Mindfulness for Life -  Tue, 30 Jul

Who will this course benefit? 

If you are experiencing stress, anxiety, low mood or feel generally ‘dissatisfied’ with life, this course can offer you some tools to meet these everyday life challenges more skillfully.  For Adults 18yrs+.

Is this the right time for you to take this programme?

The teachers offering this programme course are mindfulness teachers rather than medical practitioners, therapists or other mental health professionals. This programme is not offered as a treatment for any specific physical or psychological conditions, nor is it suitable for people who are currently experiencing active depressive episodes, severe emotional disturbances or mental health issues or for anyone who is currently abusing substances.  It is also advisable not to take this course if you have experienced bereavement, trauma or other major life events in the past six months. 

Subsidy for Mental Health Professionals

In keeping with YARDO's mission to foster local connections in service of our whole community's wellbeing, this programme is being offered at the subsidised rate of £200 for any helping professional currently training or working in the London Borough of Ealing.