Adapting Mindfulness Techniques for Children, Teens, and Adults

With the surge in mental health challenges from across the lifespan, more clinicians are using mindfulness, compassion-based resilience, and self-regulation tools for their clients and themselves. Join author, psychologist, and consultant Dr. Christopher Willard for two days, one dedicated to learning the core tenets of mindfulness, self-compassion, and positive psychology techniques and the next to adapt those practices for children, teens, and adults.  We will practice and learn practical, creative techniques through awareness, movement, games, play, and creative activities.

Learning differences, cultural differences, developmental differences, and, of course, mental health issues all affect how clients learn best, and this course explores ways to adapt mindfulness rather than approach with a one-size-fits-all approach. We learn to make mindfulness trauma-aware and the best methods for depression, anxiety, executive function challenges, and more. Practical physiology and neuroscience will be explored, along with getting clients to practice outside our time together. We will discover a range of techniques that complement not just therapy but arts, sports, games, music, technology, and more for attention spans ranging from 30 seconds to 30 minutes.