WEBSITE: Centre for Mindfulness (USA)

Post date: Feb 17, 2013 8:34:10 PM

Website

http://www.umassmed.edu/content.aspx?id=41252

The 'Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society' has pioneered the integration of mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness-based approaches in mainstream medicine and healthcare through patient care, research, academic medical and professional education. It was founded in 1995 by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD , growing out of the renowned Stress Reduction Clinic.

Review date 17-2-13

Review

This is the site of the Centre for Mindfulness in Massachusetts, founded by John Kabat-Zinn, who is widely known for his mindfulness-based stress reduction programme (MBSR) and for his CDs and books which promote mindfulness meditation for the management of stress and depression. His 8 week mindfulness programme is widely known and used. This site is very much a university site, promoting the programmes it offers and related publications. The site is well ordered and laid out with vertical links to the sections, each of which opens multiple links:

THE STRESS REDUCTION PROGRAM(MBSR) – This section is for people who can physically attend the programme, which takes place in the University of Massachusetts. If, like me, you are in the UK, you may wish to refer to John Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living, buy one of the CDs, or locate something more local to you. The programme is described as 'an intensive training that asks participants to draw on their inner resources and natural capacity to actively engage in caring for themselves and finding greater balance, ease, and peace of mind.'

OASIS INSTITUTE – This institute provides mindfulness-based professional education and training, and includes a cohesive range of training programmes, with the training of teachers of MBSR 'at the core of the Oasis Institute mission'. Although based in the USA, it is possible to take approved programmes in other countries, and a search by country revealed 16 UK centres offering programmes – search at http://w3.umassmed.edu/MBSR/public/searchmember.aspx

ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE – This page is about the annual conference of the Centre for Mindfulness, held at the University of Massachusetts. It is described as 'a unique international meeting of mindfulness-oriented clinicians, researchers, and educators who gather to share scientific findings, clinical approaches, teaching experiences, and ideas'.

evolve... - is a set of mindfulness‐based programs and services designed to address the high and growing demand for a wide range of community oriented in‐class and web‐based programs and services. Programmes include the one-day Introduction to Mindfulness, and programmes lasting over weeks including programmes on mindfulness in the workplace, and the 8-week mindfulness-based stress reduction programme. Again, these programmes do not appear to be offered online, so may require attendance.

RESEARCH INVESTIGATING MINDFULNESS – This section includes one academic article and a bibliography section which includes abstracts for a number of articles. There is a comprehensive listing of articles related to research into the impact of mindfulness practice. These include pilot investigations, small studies, and large-scale federally-funded research studies.

Academic interest: The Research and Bibliography pages at http://umassmed.edu/Content.aspx?id=41286 include a comprehensive listing of relevant research articles (peer reviewed), and for a number of these the abstracts can be read, but the full articles cannot be accessed. There is one (current) article which can be downloaded and read in full.

Practitioners: This site would be relevant to practitioners who wanted to buy books, or participate in training programmes on Mindfulness practice. Books and resources can be purchased through the site.

Self-helpers: It is possible to purchase books and CDs through the site. They are also available to purchase via online retailers.

Best Bits

A quote within the research section summarises the research process:

Since 1979, the Center for Mindfulness has been dedicated to the ongoing investigation of the attributes and qualities of mindfulness and its role in health and healthcare through an active program of clinical and analytical research. While our clinical program is a primary laboratory for this exploration, we also utilize randomized clinical trials to evaluate both the basic MBSR format for particular diagnoses and clinical populations as well as the integration of mindfulness into existing treatment protocols.

An extract from the abstract of an article by Kabat-Zinn, J. 'An out-patient program in Behavioral Medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation: Theoretical considerations and preliminary results.' Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry (1982) 4:33-47.

'We conclude that this form of meditation can be used as the basis for an effective behavioral program in self-regulation for chronic pain patients' [Online accessed 17-2-13 found at http://umassmed.edu/content.aspx?id=43128 ]

An extract from an article concerning the long-term effectiveness of mindfulness practices on those with anxiety disorders shows sustained benefits after three years:

'We conclude that an intensive but time-limited group stress reduction intervention based on mindfulness meditation can have long-term beneficial effects in the treatment of people diagnosed with anxiety disorders.' [Online accessed 17-2-13 found at http://umassmed.edu/content.aspx?id=43140 ]

About the author

The Centre for Mindfulness is a site on the University of Massachusetts website, and is pioneering the integration of meditation and mindfulness into mainstream medicine and health care. The Centre is now directed by Dr. Saki F. Santorelli, but was established in 1995 by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, who founded the acclaimed Stress Reduction Clinic in 1979. Since its inception, more than 18,000 people have completed the eight-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Programme (MBSR) which is the subject of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s best-selling book, Full Catastrophe Living and Saki Santorelli’s book, Heal Thy Self.