Module 9: Growing Up Mindful: Working with Kids and Teens

Join Dr. Christopher Willard as he takes you step by step through a holistic model of Mindfulness applications designed to help you learn and teach mindfulness in a way that encourages engagement and buy in from your clients – making their lives better!

The course begins with the neuroscience of mindfulness and compassion, demonstrating and defining practices along the way. From this introduction, our content turns toward a holistic bio-psycho-social or “mind-body-spirit” model of understanding mental health issues and mind-body models of treatment. These next two units focus more deeply on neuroscience and attachment, and introduces the MBI’s: (Mindfulness Based Interventions) including ACT, DBT, MBSR, MBCT, and MSC. Interpersonal neurobiology is examined and along with a number of practices for clinicians themselves to hone presence, stave off burnout and manage countertransference.

As the course advances, the attention turns to managing and treating specific mental health issues and populations including trauma, addiction, anxiety, depression, ADHD, addiction and youth. Each of these segments follows a similar arc- opening with understanding the diagnosis from a holistic bio-psycho-social perspective, then turning to body, mind, and interpersonal practices, as well as a longer practice and a short “in the moment” practice. All the while, explaining the neuroscience of how mindfulness “works” in the treatment techniques learned in this course. The last segment touches on other important concerns, including personality disorders, OCD, chronic pain and illness, psychosis, and managing resistance.