50 Mindfulness Techniques for Children and Teens – Christopher Willard

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• Give kids tools to recognize and work with their difficult emotions and impulses
• Promote mindfulness practice outside the clinical hour
• Techniques to engage the most resistant and reluctant kids
• Adapt mindfulness exercises to all kinds of minds
• Use technology to support practice
• Mindfulness to complement play, CBT, expressive, dynamic and other therapies
• Techniques for challenges at home, the classroom, performances and social situations

Discover proven techniques for depression, ADHD, anxiety, anger, acting out, trauma and more. Mood boosters for depression include movement such as mindful walking, mindful yoga, and mindful qi-gong. Proven practices for ADHD, executive function and impulse control disorders include “urge surfing,” “STOP,” “SLOW”, “SIFT” and more. Skills to soothe trauma and anxiety like “seeking stillness,” “touchpoints,” and “four elements” practices will be taught and practiced as a group. We will practice skills that build emotional and social intelligence, including mindfulness of music, listening and body awareness exercises.

Mindfulness is more than just breathing, and so is this workshop. Participants should be prepared for an experiential day practicing a variety of mindfulness techniques including awareness, movement, games, play, and creative/expressive activities that can be practiced by young people and adults alike. Special attention will also be given to harnessing the power of technology and social media. Learning will take the form of lecture, video, case presentations, small group and dyad activities as well as experiential activities and ample time for question and answer and discussion with colleagues.

Join author and psychologist Dr. Christopher Willard in this engaging workshop! He will share personal and professional anecdotes from his experience as a working psychologist from inner-city schools to college campuses, from Harvard Medical School to teen meditation retreats. This workshop inspires, but more importantly empowers you with the tools you need to offer mindfulness practices to young people in practical yet engaging ways.

1. Communicate effectively definitions of mindfulness in a clinical setting.
2. Formulate research based rationale for using mindfulness based interventions.
3. Explore the basic research underlying mindfulness based treatment approaches
4. Investigate simple principles of neuroscience and physiology as it relates to stress and mindfulness
5. Apply mindfulness and related techniques in and out of sessions.
6. Design mindfulness-based treatments that are tailored to impulse control.

• Mindfulness: What’s all this “nothingness” about?
  • It’s not just breathing. What mindfulness is, and what it isn’t
  • The stress response on development, learning, and mental health
  • Harness the healing power of mind-body relationship
  • Give kids tools to recognize and work with their emotions and impulses
  • Transform fight or flight to attend and befriend
  • Facilitate child and teen brain development
• PRACTICE MINDFULNESS IN THE TREATMENT HOUR
  • Introduce and Adapt Mindfulness Practices for Young People
    • Play, games, video, arts, and athletics
    • Adapt mindfulness exercises to all kinds of minds
    • CBT, dynamic, expressive and play therapies
  • Assessment and Treatment Planning
    • When to use, and when to avoid, mindfulness practices
    • The five stage model
    • Mindfulness-based holistic treatment plan
  • Strategies to Engage Challenging Kids
    • Develop skills to engage the most resistant and reluctant kids
    • Tips for teaching a range of learning styles
    • Create an environment of safety and exploration
    • Strength-based approach to match the treatment to the child
  • Proven Techniques for Depression, ADHD, Anxiety and More
    • Build emotional intelligence
    • Mind-body awareness, listening meditation and others
    • Boost mood with mindful appreciation, mindful movement
    • Slowing down with STOP, SLOW, SIFT, Urge surfing practices
    • Self-soothing skills for trauma and anxiety disorders
    • Mindful grounding with touchpoints, the four elements and more
• MAKE MINDFULNESS STICK OUTSIDE THE TREATMENT HOUR (WHERE IT REALLY MATTERS!)
  • It doesn’t have to be an hour on a cushion – Finding the time
  • 100 activities for kids (and adults!) to do mindfully
  • 50 simple reminders to bring kids back to the present
  • Dozens of effective tools that take less than a minute
  • “Stealth” mindfulness that kids can do without anyone even knowing
  • Techniques for challenges at home, the classroom, performances and social situations
  • Ease difficult transition times
  • Checking in, not checking out – Working with technology/social media