The Mindfulness Project
Using mindfulness toreduce stress
and improve success
*in school
*at work
*in lifeToo often, we live our lives in a sort of “automatic pilot,” perhaps wondering how the time flies by so quickly. Sometimes, we get stuck in old patterns that lead to stress and anxiety. We may be filling ourselves with experiences without taking much time to savor them.
Mindfulness training involves systematically learning to pay attention to and work wisely with our thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotions. The practice is learned through simple meditation exercises, through which one eventually comes to bring a richer awareness and presence into one’s daily life.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a structured program first developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, as featured in the PBS special “Healing and the Mind” with Bill Moyers. It involves the development of mindful attention, emotional intelligence, and bodily awareness.
Mindfulness has also been incorporated into treatments for anxiety, chronic pain, depression, eating disorders, and addictions.The Mindfulness Project is a collaboration between Drs. Frank Wood and Richard Sears, based in the Cincinnati area, to help contribute to healthier communities. We offer flexible programs, such as a 90-minute “Crash Course,” a 4 week “Awake” course, and an 8 week “Alive” course.
Mindfulness Project – a Crash Course:
In this short, 90 minute course, we support students, teachers and administration with the start of the school year in a positive way, or students with the stresses that accompany particularly stressful events (such as proficiency testing). We are also able to incorporate this crash course as part of a class, as a special meeting, or after school. Topics include:
- Understanding the nature of stress
- Long-term effects of stress
- Stepping out of automatic reactions
- Techniques for short-term and long-term stress reduction
Mindfulness Project - Awake:
In this 4 week course, we offer 90-minute sessions one evening per week for a month, to foster a deeper understanding of stress and emotional management. Topics include:
- Understanding the nature of stress
- Long-term effects of stress
- How our thoughts contribute to our stress
- The nature of anxiety and depression
- Stepping out of automatic reactions
- Techniques for short-term and long-term stress reduction
Mindfulness Project - Alive:
In this 8 week course, we offer 90-minute sessions one evening per week for two months, to foster a lifelong shift in attentional capacity and emotional maturity. Topics include:
- Class 1: Automatic Pilot
- Class 2: Dealing with Barriers
- Class 3: Mindfulness of the Breath
- Class 4: Staying Present
- Class 5: Allowing and Letting Be
- Class 6: Thoughts are Not Facts
- Class 7: How Can I Best Take Care of Myself
- Class 8: Using What’s Been Learned to Deal with Future Challenges.
Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life, a way of taking charge of your life, a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you — consciously and systematically working with your own stress, pain, illness, and the challenges and demands of everyday life.
In contrast, you’ve probably encountered moments of “mindlessness” — a loss of awareness resulting in forgetfulness, separation from self, and a sense of living mechanically. Restoring within yourself a balanced sense of health and well being requires increased awareness of all aspects of self, including body and mind, heart and soul. Mindfulness-based stress reduction is intended to ignite this inner capacity and infuse your life with awareness.
-From the UMass Center for Mindfulness
Professional Training
Individuals who are working on the “front lines” can benefit from the stress-reducing benefits of mindfulness to help prevent compassion fatigue or “burnout.”
Educational Settings
Childhood and adolescence can be emotionally challenging times. The development of identity, social relationships, and the stress of performing well in school can tax a young person’s ability to cope. This is especially true for anxiety-producing proficiency exams.
Our program can also help educators and administrators with their own abilities to be more present and effective in their work and professional relationships.
Organizational Growth
Self-awareness plays an important role in organizational success. Mindfulness offers a way of developing more presence and emotional intelligence. Through coaching, small workshops, or large-group presentations, we can help design a program to fit your organization’s needs.
Medical Settings
The Stress Reduction Program can be thought of as a course designed to help people recognize and mobilize their inner psychological resources for taking better care of themselves as a complement to the medical treatments they receive through more traditional healthcare routes. It is based on relatively intense training in mindfulness meditation, and its applications for coping with stress, pain, and the challenges of everyday life compounded by chronic illness or threatening disease. (-Jon Kabat-Zinn)
About the facilitators:
Richard Sears, Psy.D., MBA, ABPP, is a licensed, board-certified clinical psychologist. He is director of the Center for Clinical Mindfulness & Meditation and a core faculty member of the Psy.D. Program at Union Institute & University, as well as an adjunct professor at Wright State University School of Professional Psychology. He has studied and practiced mindfulness for over 20 years, and conducts mindfulness groups in his private practice. He is lead author of the forthcoming book Mindfulness in Clinical Practice, co-author of the book chapter “Clinical Uses of Mindfulness” in the recently released Innovations in Clinical Practice, and lead author of Consultation Skills for Mental Health Professionals. Dr. Sears is also a fifth degree black belt in Ninjutsu, and once served as a personal protection agent for the Dalai Lama of Tibet. For more information, visit his website at www.psych-insights.com.
Frank Wood, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist. He is director of the Greater Cincinnati Psychology Associates, a collaborative practice of psychology whose mission is to bring hope and power to his clients. Frank has studied mindfulness for the past 5 years and conducts mindfulness groups in his private practice. Dr. Wood is author of a number of blogs, among them Brief Therapy Works (http://brieftherapyworks.blogspot.com/). Dr. Wood is a member of various Boards and Committees, including Centerpoint Health, a mental health agency that is the largest provider of mental health services in Hamilton County, and the Regional Transition Council, a council that is tasked with enhancing the transitional process for area high school students who have learning disabilities, visit his website at www.greatercincinnatipsychologyassociates.com.
For more information:
Contact Dr. Frank Wood or Dr. Richard Sears to discuss a personalized program to fit you or your organization's needs.
Frank Wood, Ph.D. (513) 381-6611 info@GreaterCincinnatiPsychologyAssociates.com
Richard Sears, PysD, MBA, ABPP (513) 487-1196 richard@psych-insights.com
Links for more information about the program content:
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) (www.mbct.com)
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (http://www.umassmed.edu/cfm/index.aspx)
