Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong. First Semester,

Transcription

1 Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy Department of Psychology The University of Hong Kong 1 First Semester, Course Number : PSYC2074 Lecture Hours : Tuesday 9:30 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Lecture Hall : Jockey Club Tower, Rooms & 11.04, 11/F Instructor : Prof. Shui-fong Lam Phone : lamsf@hku.hk Office : Rm C6.06 Conversation Hours : Tuesday 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. or by appointment Tutor : Veronica Cheung Phone : ykcveron@connect.hku.hk Office : Rm C7.12 Conversation Hours : Monday 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment Pigeon Hole : Rm C6.27 (No. 7) Course Description The course has a strong experiential component. The standard 8-week program of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is embedded in the course. Students have first-hand experience as the participants of the MBCT. They are required to do mindfulness practice minutes daily and participate in a whole day silence retreat. In addition to the experiential learning, students also have the opportunities to study the theoretical background of meditative traditions and how mindfulness is applied in contemporary mental health services. This is a course that requires both practical involvement and theoretical understanding. Course Objectives 1. To study mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with first-hand experience 2. To develop personal practices of mindfulness 3. To understand the theoretical background of meditative traditions 4. To study cognitive therapy and its integration with mindfulness practices 5. To study the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in mental health services Learning Outcomes On completing the course, students will be able to: 1. know mindfulness-based cognitive therapy with first person experience 2. develop personal practices of mindfulness on daily basis 3. have understanding of the theoretical background of meditative traditions 4. master the theoretical underpinning of cognitive therapy and how it is integrated with mindfulness practices in mental health services 5. critically evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in mental health services.

2 Course Schedule 2 Week 1 Sept 5 Overview of Mindfulness Week 2 Sept 12 Session 1 of MBCT Program: Awareness and Automatic Pilot Week 3 Sept 19 Session 2 of MBCT Program: Living in Our Heads Week 4 Sept 26 Session 3 of MBCT Program: Gathering the Scattered Mind Week 5 Oct 3 Session 4 of MBCT Program: Recognizing Aversion Week 6 Oct 10 Session 5 of MBCT Program: Allowing/Letting Be Week 7 Oct 17 Reading Week (No Class Meeting) Week 8 Oct 24 Session 6 of MBCT Program: Thoughts Are Not Facts Week 9 Oct 29 (Sun) Whole Day Silence Retreat (9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Function Room, 11/F) Week 10 Nov 7 Session 7 of MBCT Program: How Can I Best Take Care of Myself Week 11 Nov 14 Session 8 of MBCT Program: Maintaining and Extending New Learning Week 12 Nov 21 No Class Meeting (Preparation for the Poster Conference) Week 13 Nov 28 Poster Conference Required Textbook Recommended Reference Books Kabat-Zinn, J., (2013) (Revised Edition). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and your mind to face stress, pain and illness. New York: Delta. Shapiro, S., & Carlson L. E. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness: Integrating mindfulness into professions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. [The electronic copy of this book is available to all HKU students through Find@HKU in the library website.]

3 Course Assignments 3 The assessment is entirely by coursework The coursework consists of four components: 1) your daily home practice and contribution to class learning 10% 2) your reflective journal 30% 3) your book review 30% 4) your group presentation 30% 1) Participation in class and home practice (10%) Your attendance and participation reflect your commitment to the course. As this is a course with strong component of experiential learning, we do not accept students sitting in without registration. Attendance will be taken for every class and tutorial meeting. Certificate of the completion of the MBCT program is only issued to the students who have attended at least 80% of the program. Those who have attended less than 50% will be considered failing the course. There is daily home practice and students are required to submit the weekly record form through Moodle on each Monday by 5:00 p.m. 2) Self-reflective journal (30%) Students are required to submit through Moodle on or before Oct 23, 2017 (Monday) a short self-reflective journal consisting of 1,500 to 2,000 words reflecting on their mindfulness practice in the first half of the program. Here are the suggested areas to cover in your self-reflective journal: 1. Your overall experience of the program, especially what you have learned about yourself. 2. How has the program helped you to understand mindfulness? 3. Which meditation techniques - breathing, body scan, walking, yoga etc. - work well for you? Why? 4. Which meditation techniques do not work well for you? Why not? 5. What do your likes and dislikes for certain meditation techniques reflect about your mind and habits? 6. Have you applied what you learnt in mindfulness practice in your daily life activities? If you have, illustrate your answer with some examples. 7. Will you continue to practice mindfulness? If so, what is your plan? What are the potential obstacles to carry out your plan? What are your strategies for working with these obstacles? 8. Any other observations, discoveries, puzzles, difficulties or aspirations related to your mindfulness practice. Please illustrate your reflection with concrete examples of your own experience. You do not need to cover all the above areas. You can also discuss something beyond these areas if you deem the discussion is important to your reflection. 3) Book review (30%) In the following book list, please choose a book that intrigues you and write a review of 2,500 to 3,000 words. Keep the summary of the book to the minimum (250 words). The most important part of the review is not the summary but your analyses, reflections, and opinions. Please submit your book review through Moodle by December 1 (Friday).

4 Here are the suggested areas to cover in your book review: 1. A very brief summary of the book. 2. What ideas presented by the author are most impressive to you? Why? 3. What discourse in the book goes against your understanding of mindfulness? Why? 4. What important evidence or arguments are missing in the discourse of the book? 5. How does this book help you understand mindfulness from other perspective(s)? 6. Can you apply what you have learned from the book to your practice of mindfulness? How? 7. What confusions or puzzles do you have after reading the book? 8. If you had a conversation with the author, what would you tell or ask him/her? Again, you do not need to cover all the above areas. You can also discuss something beyond these areas if you deem the discussion is important to your review. In addition, you need to read or cite other journal articles or books to illustrate your analyses and opinions. Book List 1. André, C. (2012). Mindfulness: 25 ways to live in the moment through art. London: Random House. [The author introduced mindfulness by reflecting on 25 masterpiece paintings.] 2. Chia, M. (1991). Awaken healing energy through Tao. Sante Fe: Aurora Press. [This book was written by a Taoist Master on Taoist meditative practices.] 3. de Mello, A. (2004). Sadhana: A way to god. Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash. [This book was written by a Jesuit priest. He saw meditation as dedication to God.] 4. Farias, M., & Wikholm, C. (2015). The Buddha pill: Can meditation change you? London: Watkins. [The authors are critics of mindfulness. They are skeptical of the effects of mindfulness.] 5. Greenland, S. K. (2010). The mindful child. New York: Atria. [The author wrote this book to promote mindfulness in children.] 6. Hawkins, K. (2017). Mindful teacher, mindful school: Improving wellbeing in teaching and learning. Los Angeles: Sage. [This book was written for teachers who want to cultivate mindfulness in school.] 7. Kabat-Zinn, M., & Kabat-Zinn, J. (1997), Everyday blessings: The inner work of mindful parenting. New York: Hyerion. [This book was written for parents on mindfulness.] 8. Salzberg, S. (1995). Loving-kindness: The revolutionary art of happiness. Boston: Shambhala. [The author focused on the relationship between compassion and mindfulness.] 9. Siegel, D. J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of well-being. New York: W.W. Norton. [From the perspective of neuroscience, the author discussed mindfulness and its effects] 10. Thich, N. H. (1990). Transformation and healing: The sutra on the four establishments of mindfulness. Berkeley: Parallax. [As a Buddhist monk, the author introduced mindfulness on the basis of a Buddhist scripture.] 4

5 4) Group presentation (30%) 5 There are two tutorial groups with 15 students in each group. These 15 students are further divided into 5 small groups with 3 students in each small group. Each small group will take turn to present a topic in the tutorial meetings. Please let your tutor know which topic your small group wants to present by September 29. Here is the schedule and the assigned topics: Tutorial Date Week Topics Group A 1 Sept 22 (Fri) Week 4 Orientation Group B 2 Oct 27 (Fri) Week Nov 3 (Fri) Week Nov 10 (Fri) Week Nov 17 (Fri) Week Nov 24 (Fri) Week The assigned topics and the suggested contents: 1. The effectiveness of mindfulness a. Is mindfulness helpful or harmful? b. For whom and in which circumstances is mindfulness helpful? c. For whom and in which circumstances is mindfulness harmful? 2. The psychological mechanism behind mindfulness a. Can cognitive therapy be integrated with mindfulness? b. Why MBCT is effective in reducing depression? c. What are the neurological bases for the effectiveness of mindfulness practice? 3. The secularized mindfulness practices and Christian meditation tradition a. What are their differences and similarities? b. What are the Christians criticisms against the secularized mindfulness practice? c. Are practices in these different traditions complementary? 4. The secularized mindfulness practices and Buddhist or Taoist mediation tradition a. What are their differences and similarities? b. What are the Buddhists or Taoists criticisms against the secularized mindfulness practice? c. Are practices in these different traditions complementary? 5. Mindful parenting a. What is mindful parenting? b. What are the empirical evidences for its effectiveness? c. What are the obstacles for mindful parenting in Hong Kong? 6. Mindful teaching a. What is mindful teaching? b. What are the empirical evidences for its effectiveness? c. What are the obstacles for mindful teaching in Hong Kong? 7. The application of mindfulness in school a. How mindfulness is used for children in school setting? b. How effective are these mindfulness-based interventions in school? c. What are the difficulties for these interventions in Hong Kong? 8. The clinical application of mindfulness a. How mindfulness is used in clinics, hospital, and mental health setting?

6 b. How effective are these mindfulness-based interventions? c. What are the difficulties for these interventions in Hong Kong? 9. Mindfulness and compassion a. Can mindfulness induce compassion? b. What are the benefits of compassion for mental health? c. What other means can induce compassion? 10. Mindfulness and self-compassion a. Can mindfulness induce self-compassion? b. What are the benefits of self-compassion for mental health? c. What other means can induce self-compassion? 6 The contents (a, b, c) are only suggestions. You can go beyond the suggested contents and discuss any other contents that you deem are important to the topic. Please prepare the following three documents for the presentation: 1. A powerpoint file for the presentation 2. A two-page handout with reference list for other members of the tutorial group 3. A poster for the poster conference on November 28. Submit the powerpoint file and the two-page handout through Moodle on the day of the presentation. The poster will be submitted on November 28. To be environmentally friendly, no hard copy of the assignment is required. All written assignments are submitted in form of soft copy. The softcopy will be checked for plagiarism against a database of articles, books, webpages, and essays submitted by students at HKU and other universities. No credit will be given for an assignment that contains plagiarized materials. Further penalties will also be applied. These penalties include a zero mark for course tutorials and a zero mark for the course. Plagiarism may also be reported to the Faculty with a view to disciplinary action. Weekly Readings Week 1 (Sept 5) Overview of Mindfulness Shapiro, S., & Carlson L. E. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness: Integrating mindfulness into professions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Chapter 1 What is mindfulness? Chapter 7 How is mindfulness helpful: Mechanisms of action Chapter 1 Oh No, Here I Go Again Chapter 2 The Healing Power of Awareness Week 2 (Sept 12) Session 1 of MBCT Program: Awareness and Automatic Pilot Chapter 3 Cultivating Mindfulness: A First Taste

7 Kuyken, W., Hayes, R., Barrett, B., Byng, R., Dalgleish, T., Kessler, D.,... Byford, S. (2015). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy compared with maintenance antidepressant treatment in the prevention of depressive relapse or recurrence (PREVENT): A randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 386, Week 3 (Sept 19) Session 2 of MBCT Program: Living in Our Heads Chapter 4 - The Breath: Gateway to Awareness Chiesa, A., & Malinowski, P. (2011). Mindfulness-based approaches: Are they all the same? Journal of Clinical Psychology, 67, Week 4 (Sept 26) Session 3 of MBCT Program: Gathering the Scattered Mind Chapter 5 A Different Way of Knowing Fennell, M., & Segal, Z. (2011). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: culture clash or creative fusion? Contemporary Buddhism, 12, Week 5 (Oct 3) Session 4 of MBCT Program: Recognizing Aversion Chapter 6 Reconnecting with Our Feelings Tang, Y. Y., Hölzel, B. K., & Posner, M. I. (2015). The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16, Week 6 (Oct 10) Session 5 of MBCT Program: Allowing/Letting Be Chapter 7 Befriending Our Feelings Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). A model of mindful parenting: Implications for parent child relationships and prevention research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12, Week 7 (Oct 17) Reading Week (No reading for reading week!) It is the time to complete self-reflection journal. 7 Week 8 (Oct 24) Session 6 of MBCT Program: Thoughts Are Not Facts

8 Chapter 8 Seeing Thoughts as Creations of the Mind 8 Hölzel, B. K., Lasar, S. W., Gard, T., Shcuman-Oliver, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work: Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, Week 9 (Oct 29) Whole Day Silence Retreat Trammel, R. C. (2017) Tracing the roots of mindfulness: Transcendence in Buddhism and Christianity, Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 36, Optional Reading Dreyfus, G. (2011). Is mindfulness present-centred and non-judgmental? A discussion of the cognitive dimensions of mindfulness. Contemporary Buddhism, 12, Week 10 (Nov 7) Session 7 of MBCT Program: How Can I Best Take Care of Myself Chapter 9 Mindfulness in Everyday Life Roeser, R. W., Skinner, E., Beers, J., & Jennings, P. A. (2012). Mindfulness training and teachers' professional development: An emerging area of research and practice. Child Development Perspectives, 6, Week 11 (Nov 13) Session 8 of MBCT Program: Maintaining and Extending New Learning Chapter 10 Fully Alive Zenner, C., Hermleben-Kurz, & Walach, H. (2014). Mindfulness-based interventions in schools - a systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(Article 603), Week 12 (Nov 11) No Class Meeting (Preparation for the Poster Conference) Hofmann, S. G., Grossman, P., & Hinton, D. E. (2011). Loving-kindness and compassion meditation: Potential for psychological interventions. Clinical Psychology Review, 31, Bluth, K., & Blanton, P. W. (2013). Mindfulness and self-compassion: Exploring pathways to adolescent emotional well-being. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 23,