Resources for Teaching Mindfulness

Donald McCown, PhD, MAMS, MSS, LSW is associate professor of health, co-director of the Center for Contemplative Studies, and director of the minor in contemplative studies at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. He holds a PhD in Social Science from Tilburg University, a Master of Applied Meditation Studies degree from the Won Institute of Graduate Studies, and a Master of Social Service from Bryn Mawr College. He trained as an MBSR teacher through the Center for Mindfulness at University of Massachusetts and at Thomas Jefferson University. His primary research interests include the pedagogy of mindfulness in clinical applications and higher education, applications of complementary and integrative medicine in the community, and the contemplative dimensions of the health humanities. He is also author of The Ethical Space of Mindfulness in Clinical Practice,and primary author of Teaching Mindfulness: A Practical Guide for Clinicians and Educators and New World Mindfulness: Fromthe Founding Fathers, Emerson, and Thoreau to your Personal Practice.Diane Reibel, PhD, co-founded the Stress Reduction Program at Thomas Jefferson University in 1996. She has studied over the years many different traditions with teachers such as Jack Cornfield, Thich Nhat Hanh, Tenzin Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and Rabbi David Cooper.  Marc S. Micozzi, MD, PhD, is a worldwide leader in mind-body and complementary/alternative medicine. He has had a distinguished career as a researcher and physician executive at the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Washington, DC, and the College of Physicians in Philadelphia PA. He is adjunct professor of physiology and biophysics, and pharmacology, at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and of Medicine and Physical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has published over 30 medical and trade books, and founded and edited the first scientific journal, and the first textbook, Fundamentals of Complementary & Integrative Medicine, now going into a 5th edition (2013) and continuously in print since 1995.

“This work is a toolbox of resources to help those of us who teach mindfulness to clients, whether in a group setting or with individuals. … Resources for Teaching Mindfulness is a good source for ideas to use in developing and improving our teaching of mindfulness. … the book is exactly what the title claims it to be–and is a pretty good one … .” (Leslie C. Miller, Philosophical Practice, Vol. 12 (3), November, 2017)“This is a resource book. Specifically, it is a reference for mindfulness teachers who are working with different nationalities and other special populations and issues. Each chapter would likely be of great interest to the Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) teacher who is facing the problem it addresses.” (Roger Thomson, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 62 (33), August, 2017)

• Introduction.- Honing the Skills of MBI Teachers.- Stewardship: deeper structures.- Guidance: perfecting the details.- Homiletics: how to talk the science.- Inquiry and dialogue.- Interpersonal mindfulness.- Developing and evaluating MBI teachers in training.- Teaching MBI Curricula Everywhere, to Everyone.- Curriculum and pedagogy in East Asia.- Curriculum and pedagogy in Italy.- Curriculum and pedagogy in Israel.- Curriculum and pedagogy in Australia.- Curriculum and pedagogy in South Africa.- Teaching MBI for Special Populations.- Inner-city populations in the USA.- Individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities.- Elderly populations.- Individuals with chronic pain.- Life-limiting illness.- Health care professionals.- Background of trauma.- Eating disorders.- Anxiety and depression.- Learning Resources.- Scripts for guided mindfulness practices and classroom activities.- MBI training programs worldwide.- International bibliography.