Baltimore, MD 21218
ph: 443-939-0232
trish
January 16, 2018
Do your mindfulness students fall asleep? Daydream? Use the time to plan their evening? Giggle? Try to distract other group members?
These responses might have a variety of reasons behind them. Your students may in fact be tired, unsure of the instructions, or engaging in their habitual social roles.
Or --they may be stressed and therefore having difficulty engaging in the practices, even if they'd like to. Perhaps there was a car accident on the way to school; perhaps their beloved pet is ill and dying; perhaps there is violence in the home or neighborhood.
Because it is impossible to know which of our mindfulness students on any given day are arriving to the session in a fight/flight/freeze stress reaction, following trauma-informed guidelines will allow the greatest number of students to engage in the practices, and thus gain the benefit of them.
Mindfulness practices have many short and long term benefits, and research shows these benefits may be even greater for those who come to them with increased stress or trauma histories. Therefore, these guidelines are even more important when we are teaching to groups known to have traumatic stress due to PTSD, high ACES scores or a current acute trauma such as the death of a parent.
Five Guidelines:
Author Bibiography (Evidence-based research and theoretical underpinnings for Trauma-informed and Trauma-Sensetive Mindfulness)
Magyari, T. 2016. Teaching Individuals with Traumatic Stress (invited chapter) in Resources for Teaching Mindfulness: An International Handbook. Eds. McCown, D., Reibel D., and M. Mikozizi. Eds. Springer.
Magyari, T. 2015. Teaching MBSR and Mindfulness to Women with Complex Trauma Stemming from Childhood Sexual Abuse (invited chapter) in Mindfulness-Oriented Approaches to Trauma Care. Eds. Folette, V., Briere, J., et. al. Guilford Press.
Sibinga, E, Kerrigan, D, Stewart, M, Johnson, K, Magyari, T, MS, Ellen, JE. 2011. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Urban Youth. The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine. Volume 17, Number 3, pp. 1–6.
Kerrigan, D, Johnson, K, StewartM, MagyariT, Hutton, N, Ellen, J, Sibinga, E. 2011. Perceptions, experiences, and shifts in perspective occurring among urban youth participating in a mindfulness-based stress reduction program. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.Volume 17, Issue 2, May, Pages 96-101.
Kimbrough, E., Magyari, T, Chesney, M, Bernan, B. 2010. Mindfulness Intervention for Child Abuse Survivors. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Volume 66 (1): 17-33.
Sibinga, E., Stewart, M., Magyari, T., Welsh, C., Hutton, N., Ellen, JE. 2008. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for HIV-Infected Youth: A Pilot Study. Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. Volume: 4, Issue: 1, 36-37.
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Want to learn more? Do you work in schools or other settings with youth? I’ll be giving a three hour workshop at the upcoming Bridging Hearts and Minds of Youth Conference, Feb 2 – 4th in San Diego where I will expand on these guidelines, and apply them to a variety of mindfulness exercises, meditations, retreats and program components for youth. Join me by registering here: http://bridgingconference.org/.
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Want to bring this work to your organization, group or conference?
Presentations , experiential workshops and professional education trainings are available. Variable lengths from 1 hour up to weekend workshops (20 hours) for full training. For more information,contact me at trish@trishmagyari.com.
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Baltimore, MD 21218
ph: 443-939-0232
trish