Teaching Mindfulness in Clinical Practice

Executive Summary:

Mindfulness is a psychological intervention that we dream of: it works both for clients/patients and us, and its effectiveness is demonstrated not just by clinical studies but by the unusual number of people testifying to its benefit. Moreover it is a quick, simple concept with obvious validity and relevance.

It fits with the thinking of those who maintain that "To live effectively and well cannot be a complicated thing, so any intervention to help people do so should not itself be complicated”.

Who should attend this course?

Mindfulness has very wide application, and people who attend this course normally fall into one of two categories:

• Professionals who see patients in 1:1 treatment settings, have a significant degree of clinical skill, and wish also to be able to teach Mindfulness to patients.
• 'Whole teams' (either in inpatient or community settings) seeking to develop a common approach to Mindfulness.

The professional affiliations of people attending this course include: mental health/psychiatric nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, educational psychologists, psychiatrists, probation officers and others working in a variety of settings including: Adult Mental Health, Children and Adolescents, Older People, Substance Misuse, Forensic.

The course covers:

• What is Mindfulness? – (a brief history and) defining characteristics.

• How to do it - how to start, and how to become a practitioner.

• Introducing mindfulness to the client/patient.

• Applying a mindful approach to issues presented by clients/patients.

• Empowering the client/patient by having them see it work.

• Developing mindfulness into a fundamental tool of support for the client/patient.

What this course will do for you:

If you are a complete novice to mindfulness, you will know how to use elementary techniques (demonstrated and practised on the course) with your clients and, if you are committed to practising, will build up your confidence and effectiveness. So as a result of the course you will:

• Know what mindfulness is and is not.

• Be able to use mindfulness meditation yourself.

• Be able to take a mindful approach to your emotions.

• Be able to impart the benefits of mindfulness to your clients/patients and help them to practise it when you feel confident enough to do so.

• Receive certification, and registration on APT's register as having attended.

What you receive as a result of attending the training:

You will be registered as having attended the course, thereby gaining APT's Level 1 accreditation, and receive a certificate to this effect. The accreditation gives you access to online resources associated with the course and access to the online exam if you wish to uprate your APT accreditation to Level 2.

Your registration lasts indefinitely, and your accreditation lasts for 3 years and is renewable by sitting an online refresher which also upgrades your accreditation to APT Level 2 if you are successful in the associated online exam.

Your accreditation is given value by the fact of over 150,000 people having attended APT training.