Offered by the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

New Frontiers in Mindfulness & Compassion:
Fostering Resilience in Uncertain Times

Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD

August 15 – 19, 2022 • Monday – Friday
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Why does one person recover quickly from adversity, while another gets derailed? Can we cultivate this capacity for resilience even if we’ve had a difficult upbringing, or faced serious hardships? This presentation will explore how mindfulness and compassion practices can help us not only bounce back from painful experiences, but to grow from them to engage more fully in life, particularly during uncertain times, as we are experiencing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Using mindfulness and compassion practices safely can be a challenge. Any practice powerful enough to create meaningful change is also powerful enough to cause harm. They therefore need to be tailored to fit the needs of particular individuals. And to really reap the benefits of mindfulness and compassion practices, it’s important for clinicians to personally experience their effects.

This seminar provides an up-to-date review of the theory and practice of mindfulness meditation and compassion practices from their ancient origins to modern brain science and psychotherapy, along with opportunities for participants to cultivate their own personal practice. After reviewing how they work to both alleviate psychological distress and cultivate resilience, we will explore which practices are best suited to individuals of different ages, cultural background, and personality organization, including those suffering from trauma. You’ll learn how to use mindfulness and compassion practices to help resolve anxiety, depression, and stress-related medical disorders that arise during uncertain times, as well as to help patients gain freedom from self-esteem concerns and to develop deeper, more rewarding, personal relationships that are critical for post- traumatic growth. Participants with no meditation experience, as well as seasoned practitioners, will find this course helpful both personally and clinically. 

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

  • Discuss the mechanisms of action in meditation that foster resilience, such as metacognitive awareness, emotion regulation, and self-compassion;
  • Describe the use of mindfulness and compassion practices to support post-traumatic growth;
  • Utilize mindfulness practices to treat Covid related anxiety and depression.
  • Identify the three main components of mindfulness practice—focused attention, open-monitoring, and self-compassionate acceptance—and know when to apply each in clinical settings;
  • Articulate the empirical support for mindfulness, acceptance, and compassion-based treatments;
  • Evaluate new research findings on the neurobiological effects of meditation;
  • Identify common mechanisms in psychological disorders and how mindfulness and compassion practices can alter them;
  • Customize meditation practices for patient populations with diverse identities, cultural backgrounds, and personality organizations;
  • Identify potential adverse effects and contraindications for mindfulness and compassion practices;
  • Adapt mindfulness and compassion practices to work with trauma;
  • Choose specific practices to treat anxiety, depression, self-esteem concerns, and stress-related medical disorders;
  • Use mindfulness techniques to enhance empathic attunement and therapeutic presence;
  • Apply the practices and principles of meditation to support personal wellbeing.

FACULTY

Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD, is Assistant Professor of Psychology, (part-time), Harvard Medical School. He serves on the Board of Directors and faculty, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and is author of The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are and The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, co-author of Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy and Back Sense; and co-editor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy and Deepening Mindfulness in Clinical Practice. He is a long-time student of mindfulness meditation and teaches internationally about the application of mindfulness practice in psychotherapy and other fields.

Date and timeAgenda Item
Monday, August 15
8:30am – 9:00amRegistration
9:00am – 10:15amCore Skills Training: Mindfulness: Definitions, introductions to practice, formal and informal mindfulness techniques.
10:15am – 10:30amCoffee Break
10:30am – 12:15pmThree skills: focused attention, open monitoring, and acceptance training. Choosing optimal objects of attention.
Tuesday, August 16
9:00am – 10:15amTailoring the Practice to the Patient: Meditation as training for the clinician; enhancing the therapy relationship.
10:15am – 10:30am Coffee Break
10:30am – 12:15pmIndications and contraindications of different practices for different patients. Mindfulness as a response to the narcissism epidemic.
Wednesday, August 17
9:00am – 10:15amDeepening Personal Practice: Gaining proficiency in sitting, walking and eating practices.
10:15am – 10:30amCoffee Break
10:30am – 12:15pmWorking with challenging mind states and mental contents. Insight from intensive practice.
Thursday, August 18
9:00am – 10:15amWorking with challenging mind states and mental contents. Insight from intensive practice.
10:15am – 10:30amCoffee Break
10:30am – 12:15pmTreating depression: Entering the dark places together.
Friday, August 19
9:00am – 10:15amSpecific Clinical Applications II: Befriending anxiety: Treating anxiety disorders.
10:15am – 10:30am Coffee Break
10:30am – 12:15pmBeyond symtom management: Treating stress-related disorders.
12:15pmAdjourn