Buddhist Psychology Training Application (BPT4) - 2024

Application Deadline: end of the day on January 3, 2024 (US Pacific Time). Applications will be reviewed by the teachers on a semi-rolling basis until January 3, 2024, or until the program is full. Final notifications will be sent out January 5, 2024.

Buddhist Psychology Training: Scientific Intersections and Clinical Applications of Dharma

PREREQUISITE:

• Completion of at least one silent multi-day residential or multi-day online Insight Meditation retreat recommended by the start of the program (e.g. a retreat with Spirit Rock, IMS, IRC, etc.)
• Note: this program is by application only. It is designed with mental health professionals in mind, but is open to anyone with a sincere interest in the integration of Buddhism and psychological science. Opportunity to participate in the program will be confirmed once program requirements and fit are verified.

Description:

Deepen your understanding of meditation and nourish your work with clients in this four-month training designed for clinicians, counselors, mindfulness teachers, and others providing mental health support. Join a community of peers for an in-depth exploration of mindfulness, Dharma, and science that will support both your personal practice and your work with others.

This program is designed with mental health professionals in mind, but is open to anyone with a sincere interest in the integration of Buddhism and psychological science.

Through meditation, Dharma talks, discussions, small group explorations, and clinical case studies, you will develop greater confidence in applying mindfulness-based interventions with clients while enhancing your understanding of Buddhist psychology and meditation practices that illuminate our minds, foster goodness, and transform habits that compound suffering. This training is ideal for those who wish to explore their own minds and hearts as a springboard for best serving their clients, rather than those who are primarily seeking coaching on the implementation of mindfulness-based treatment manuals.

As counselors, we know that only when we’ve truly made ourselves a patient can we become a healer. Through our practice, we become the patient and come to understand, affirm, and ultimately, transform ourselves. This transformation then ripples outwards to our clients and community. This training brings both sides of ourselves—patient and healer—together as we practice and learn in community.

In the course of our time together, we’ll dive into the scientific research on mindfulness and its increasing prominence in psychotherapeutic interventions, exploring data regarding the efficacy of mindfulness and the mechanisms through which mindfulness confers its benefits. We will also examine the convergences and tensions between clinical research and Buddhist psychology and consider ways to integrate mindfulness into treatment. We’ll explore possible contraindications of mindfulness and how to tailor the intervention to individuals. Please join us.

Visit main BPT Program page here.

Course Outline & Themes:

Each day will consist of lectures, guided meditation practice, and will often include a case study where one of the participants receives clinical supervision from Matthew based on their client’s clinical situation.

The themes addressed with include:

• Exploration of construct of mindfulness as a state, trait and practice
• The ways Buddhist practice can function as a psychotherapy and the ways it has aims outside the therapeutic realm
• The hypothesized mechanisms of action of Buddhist practice – how the practice ‘gets under the skin’
• The role of equanimity in developing emotional balance and growing freedom
• Understanding the categories of meditation practice
• How Buddhist practice supports emotion regulation
• Buddhist wisdom in meeting shame
• Approaches to anxiety and worry
• How practice supports us to manage countertransference
• Wise use of clinical and spiritual power
• How Buddhist practice develops general clinical skills – listening, empathy, intuition – and supports the well-being of the people we serve
• Teaching heart practices, including loving-kindness and compassion practices
• The safety of mindfulness practices and efforts to avoid harm or adverse effects of practice
• The fragility of identity and the teachings on anatta, or not-self
• The relationship between self-love and anatta

Program Includes:

• Format: Online via Zoom
• Commitment: two 2-day retreats, three 1-day retreats, optional office hours (to be announced) and self-study

Program Dates:

Program training period is January – May 2023. Specific training dates below. All meeting times are: 9:00am – 3:00pm US Pacific Time.

• Sat-Sun, Jan 6 – 7
• Sat, Feb 10
• Sat, March 9
• Sat, April 13
• Sat-Sun, May 4 – 5

Program Sliding Scale: $2,525 – $5,000. Scholarship rates available. All program fees include support for the teacher.
Benefactor – $5000
Sustainer – $3000
Base – $2525

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Scholarship sliding scale: $750-$2025. Scholarships are limited. *The lowest rates are reserved for those truly experiencing financial hardship. Financial assistance for training programs is limited to once per year, per person.

Reduced Rate- $2025
Scholarship Rate 1 DTP – $1675*
Scholarship Rate 2 DTP – $750*

CANCELLATION FEES**:
$75 non-refundable, flat fee for all applicants on or before Dec 1, 2023 (deducted from deposit)
15% fee = Dec 2, 2023 – Jan 5, 2024
30% fee = Jan 6 – 20, 2024
No refunds = On or after Jan 21, 2024
**Fee deducted from refund; fee is a percentage of the total amount agreed to pay.

Participation and Attendance Guidelines:

Your participation in this training is important. The cohesion of the group is an important aspect of this training, so participation serves both your own development as well as the group. We ask that you commit to the dates and to participate wholeheartedly.

In addition to course meetings, participants will have opportunities to participate in smaller consult groups with the teacher throughout the program term.

For participants NOT wishing to receive CE credits: Attendance at both two-day retreats (January and May) is mandatory. We expect that all participants will also attend each monthly daylong, however, we understand that sometimes there are unexpected emergencies. If a participant must miss one of the daylongs, they will need to watch the Zoom recording prior to the next retreat.

For participants wishing to receive CE credits: In order to receive Continuing Education Credits, participants must attend all sessions live, on time, and in full. Your attendance is tracked carefully to grant your CE credits. Board regulations prohibit partial credit for partial attendance, therefore, incomplete attendance nullifies CE credit eligibility. No exceptions. More information on Continuing Education (CE) credits below.

Continuing Education (CE) credit available:
This program offers 18 CE credits for $180 applicable for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors. Please review our Continuing Education Credit information page. to determine if your association or board will accept credits offered by Spirit Rock.*

Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public.

CEC Schedule: (All times in US Pacific Time)
Full attendance is required daily 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

January 6:
9:00am – 9:30am | Guided meditation
2:00pm – 3:00pm | Discourse & Consultation

January 7, February 10, March 9, April 13, and May 4:
9:00am – 9:30am | Guided meditation
10:00am – 12:00pm | Discourse
2:00pm – 3:00pm | Discourse & Consultation

May 5:
9:00am – 9:30am | Guided meditation
2:00pm – 3:00pm | Discourse & Consultation

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-
At the end of the program you will be better able to:

• Describe at least two of the overlaps and differences between mindfulness-based treatment and Buddhist psychology;
• Describe the three clusters of meditative practice: attentional, constructive, deconstructive;
• List five types of emotion regulation;
• Describe the relevance of equanimity for emotional regulation;
• Describe how evolutionary biology informs contemporary understandings of emotion;
• Describe the parallels between Buddhist practice and exposure therapy;
• Explain the role of inflexible self-definition in the generation of difficult emotion;
• Explain the role of the brain’s default mode network and self-referential thought in emotional regulation;
• Describe Buddhist approaches to shame;
• Explain the differences between self-esteem and self-compassion;
• Describe how Buddhist practice is relevant for enhancing the therapeutic alliance;
• Describe three ways in which clinician mindfulness helps manage countertransference;
• Describe Buddhist approaches to anxiety.

*Please note:

• For those with a different license or with a license from a different licensing board, please contact your licensing board directly to ask if CE credit from the above-approved sponsors is accepted. Spirit Rock does not confirm applicability of credit for those with licenses different than those listed above. Spirit Rock is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16905 for 18 contact hours.
• Credit is awarded for instructional time only and does not include extended silent meditation, if offered.
• For full Provider information, and additional CEC information, including attendance requirements, cancellation, and grievance policies, please visit our Continuing Education Credit information page.