2 0 1 2 Classroom Mindfulness Robin Smith Stutzman, M.F.T. *Experience Counts Mindfulness is a kind of self awareness training that provides students with the skills to focus better in the classroom and navigate their emotions using more impulse control. At the end of the program, teachers are given ways to incorporate mindfulness in their classroom throughout their day, which will continue to enhance capacity for self regulation in their students. Classroom Mindfulness is a 6 8 week program taught by an experienced mindfulness teacher*, and are based on the program developed by MindfuSchools.org. A typical course would include two to three fifteen minute visits per week by a mindfulness teacher. The sessions are brief and engaging, focusing on developing one aspect of mindfulness at a time. Students learn to focus on listening, breathing, movement, walking eating, seeing, test taking, developing kind and caring thoughts to oneself and others, and more. Classroom mindfulness trainings must be conducted by experienced practitioners who work with children in an academic or therapeutic setting. Skills taught are not tools or ways to manage children in the classroom. The end goal is neurobiological change with the brain inclining more towards self regulation. Familiarity with the neurobiological process behind mindfulness training as well as significant experiences in teaching self inquiry are skills the Classroom Mindfulness teacher must have. 1
What is Mindfulness? To understand the value of the programs like Classroom Mindfulness, it s helpful to understand a basic definition of mindfulness as well as about how it s proven to be an effective tool for prevention, as well as enhancement of our brain s ability to self regulate in both children and adults. With children, especially, it is important to address dysfunctional neutral patterns at their root before they are more challenging to chance. Mindfulness is: a particular way of paying attention. It is the mental faculty of purposefully bringing awareness to one s experience. Mindfulness can be applied to sensory experience, thoughts, and emotions by using sustained attention and noticing our experience without reacting. It really is about training your brain to be right here, right now, rather than in the past (regretting) or future (worrying). When your brain is in the present moment, there is much more opportunity for thoughtful responses. In fact, Mindfulness practices are proven to increase neural firing in Executive Function areas of the brain that are directly related to the pause before reacting skill that we are always trying to cultivate in our children (and ourselves!) Mindfulness trains the brain to pause and reflect, changing the impulsive reactions to thoughtful responses: Without Mindfulness Impulse ReacSon Impulse With Mindfulness Space for ReflecSon Response Learning mindfulness helps create and expand this space, allowing responses that improve attention, learning, emotional regulation, empathy and conflict resolution. 2
Mindfulness was introduced into medicine 30 years ago by Dr. Jo Kabat Zin, Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Mindfulness has become a successful mainstream influence in medicine, psychology, corporate environments, and now education. The benefits of mindfulness are supported by a vast body of consistent research in a variety of populations and settings. In the past decade, researchers have turned to studying mindfulness training in children and adolescents, with early, but promising results. Some of the research validated results across varying populations are listed below: Benefits Better focus and concentration Increased sense of calm Decreased stress & anxiety Enhanced health Improved impulse control Increased self awareness Skillful response to difficult emotions Increased empathy and understanding of others Development of natural conflict resolution skills Mindfulness gives children access to some of the same techniques that the world s top athletes, speakers, and musicians use to perform at their best under pressure filled circumstances. 3
The mindfulness movement is rapidly gaining momentum, with an increasing number of articles on its benefits appearing in the mainstream media. Numerous studies have shown that mindfulness is a powerful tool for combating multiple mental and physical problems and disorders, for example, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Mood and Anxiety Disorders. In a recent study of 102 adolescents being treated for mental health problems in an outpatient psychiatric clinic, almost 80% were no longer diagnosed with one or more of their mental heal diagnosis(es) after an 8 week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR T) instruction. [Study published by Gina Biegel, MFT in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 10/09. Large improvements came after their program, and were sustained even 3 months later. The test indicates executive attention performance, which is key to decision making and strongly correlated with academic success. The results suggest that mindfulness can help to address major learning barriers for stressed children. Social skills also improved after the MindfulSchools program, and were sustained 3 months afterwards. Research on benefits of mindfulness in children, both in the classroom and other settings is just beginning. Early findings like these will stimulate and lend direction to future studies. MindfulSchools.org recently released a Research Brief on their pilot research study, which is the most rigorous study to date of effectiveness of Mindfulness in the Classroom: Before their program, children were initially scoring far below the normative scores for their ages on a computerized attention test (ANT C). 4
What Teachers & Students Say Data from a survey conducted by MindfulSchools on outcomes of their now widely known program used in K 5 classrooms: The following results are from a survey of 977 students and 58 teachers at 8 schools. 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 92% 84% 81% 84% 61% 53% Personally benefited Students calm more easily Students benefit Will use mindfulness in the future Can focus beqer Helps make decisions What Teachers Report What Students Report 5
Robin Smith Stutzman, M.F.T. 9330 Carmel Mountain Road, Suite F San Diego, CA 92129 Phone: 858 361 3686 Email: Raven rs@pacbell.net www.robinsmith mft.com A native San Diegan, Robin has been in private practice for 15 years. After earning a B.A. in Psychology (Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from University of California, Irvine, and an M.S. in Counseling Psychology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, she returned home and has never left. Post Graduate employment at County Mental Health and County Drug and Alcohol Services offered invaluable experience treating chronic mental illness and chemical dependency. Upon moving to the private sector in 1996, she took advantage of graduate school training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy during the explosion in that field in the 80 s and 90 s. She developed specialties in Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as well as Post Traumatic Disorders and developed an Anger Management Program for court involved women. She works with children, adolescents and adults. She has been a highly respected teacher of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (adapted MBSR) for adults in the North County area for the past 7 years. She considers herself fortunate to be able to teach people ways of paying attention to their experience which offer such great potential for change, in ways that are fully supported by our current knowledge of brain science. Most recently, Robin has begun teaching structured Mindfulness Based classes to children (both as individuals and in classroom settings), and teens (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Trainings for Teens), and participating in local work groups (UCSD Center For Mindfulness) focused on developing mindfulness programs for children and teens in school settings. In addition, she is excited to be collaborating with local mindfulness practitioners on the development of a local Mindfulness Center which will promote mindfulness trainings in the local community in collaboration with schools, workplaces, healthcare centers, etc. Robin has been a Mindfulness practitioner for the past 15 years. She is inspired by the work of mindfulness teachers such as Thich Nhat Hahn, Sharon Saltzberg, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Rick Hansen, Dan Siegel and the Dalai Lama. While maintaining her specialties, she now considers herself a Mindfulness Based Psychotherapist. Her patients will receive the gift of connecting deeply and fully with their inner experience, allowing for the healing and movement through suffering that comes from helping the brain to return to a healthy self regulating state. 6
Degrees & Programs B.A. Psychology, U.C. Irvine (Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa) M.S. Counseling Psychology, Lewis and Clark College (honors in research) Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (California, 1990) CAMFT member (California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists) Facilitator: PQ Sitting Group (Sangha) Member: Southern California MBSR teachers Sangha Member: San Diego Mindfulness Based Psychotherapists Sangha Mindfulness Programs Offered by Robin Smith Stutzman, MFT Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) (adapted) for adults (8 weeks) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (adapted) for teens with parent involvement (8 weeks) Relational Mindfulness (for couples) Radical Acceptance: a Sit/Study Mindfulness Boot Camp Daylong retreats Classroom Mindfulness (new) 8 week training program delivered in K 5 classrooms 2 4 hour seminars on Mindfulness in the Workplace 4 6 week modified MBSR trainings in the Workplace 7