Mindfulness-based therapy
Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, or behaving poorly towards others?
Consider joining a group mindfulness program
Mindfulness-based therapies for stress, anxiety and depression are well researched psychological therapies and Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MiCBT) is one of this suite of therapies.
If you are interested in knowing more book a free call to discuss.
Our clinic
We are psychologists highly trained in mindfulness-integrated cognitive behaviour therapy (MiCBT). Our research – published in Frontiers in Psychiatry – demonstrates the effectiveness of our mindfulness-based approach ( fpsyg-1-1489798.pdf).
We offer individual and group therapy that uses MiCBT to teach a set of skills and tools to improve mental health. MiCBT integrates mindfulness with CBT – both powerful and evidence-based therapeutic approaches. The meditation exercises are designed to increase awareness and understanding of mental processes and the CBT exercises work with changing unhelpful behaviours. We work with the underlying processes that cause and maintain psychological distress associated with a wide range of issues including:
- Anxiety disorders: generalised anxiety, social anxiety, OCD
- Mood disorders: depression, bipolar affective disorder
- Trauma: traumatic stress and PTSD
- Substance use disorders
- Work stress
- Relationships: family; partner; workplace
- Pain management
- Life transitions: transitions in work; transitions to parenthood; end of career transitions
Group programs for 2025
Wednesday 9th April (next)
live online 12-2pm
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Thursday 17th April – 8th May
We are committed to making MiCBT available as wide as possible with our live online groups. We are acutely aware of the traumas that people are facing with events such as fires and floods and global conflicts. We also offer hardship fees if the cost is a barrier.
Contact us for individual therapy or group mindfulness training.
8-Week Program – start dates: April – Wednesday 9th April 12-2pm AEST May – Tuesday 20th May 6-8pm AEST
- Our group program teaches MiCBT with hands-on experience. Each session includes mindfulness practice, and the teaching style is supportive and gentle, acknowledging challenges. You’ll also learn the basics of the neuroscience of how mindfulness helps with managing thoughts and emotions and how to mage real behaviour change. Daily mindfulness practice is key.
Refresher Programs and Ongoing Support: next program starts on:
Thursday 17 April 2025
- Refresher programs are available for those who may have let their practice lapse and need a review of MiCBT skills.
- We also offer three weekly meditation sessions to help maintain your skills. See members page for the link.
Mindfulness Therapists Support
- There is a growing community of MiCBT practitioners globally – our monthly MiCBT Supervision and Research Group meeting supports clinicians using MiCBT – Peer supervision and discussion on relevant research – 3rd Thursday of each month. Contact Dr Sarah Francis for more information.
Our Services
Training, therapy and group mindfulness sessions
Group Training Programs
Individual Therapy
Ongoing Support
Employee Assistance Program
Support for Organisations
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness enables us to remember to stay fully aware of only what is actually happening in the present both internally and externally – with no bias and no judgement. Mindfulness is a tool that helps us to observe and become aware of our own mental mechanisms. We cannot change what we are not aware of. With mindfulness we learn to manage persistent worrying or “mind-wandering” thinking and emotional reactivity.
Our approach uses Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavoiur Therapy (MiCBT), developed by Dr Bruno Cayoun (Cayoun, 2011, 2015) and Cayoun, Francis and Shires 2019.
What is MiCBT
Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MiCBT) places a strong emphasis on developing both the ability to think about our thinking (metacognitive awareness) AND the ability to notice what is happening in our bodies when we are thinking and reacting (interoceptive awareness) . MiCBT training integrates mindfulness training (as taught in Vipassana traditions) with contemporary evidence based approaches of western psychology (CBT and cognitive neurobiology).
MiCBT is structured in 4-stages.
- Stage 1 teaches mindfulness skills to improve attention to and understanding of thoughts and body sensations.
- Stage 2 teaches how to apply these skills to the challenges of daily life helping us to tackle previously avoided situations.
- Stage 3 specifically engages the mindfulness skills in interpersonal communication and relationship issues.
- Stage 4 explores personal ethics from a mindfulness perspective and uses compassion training to develop empathic understanding of ourselves and others.
Changing unhelpful or unwanted habits becomes easier as mindfulness skills are consolidated and integrated into daily life. We learn to understand and accept the process of thinking and sensing and to have a different perspective on troublesome thoughts and reactions. As self understanding increases we also understand others better.
We provide mindfulness training for individuals, groups and organisations.
Are you ready to deepen your Mindfulness skills in 2024?
We have delivered two group programs online this year and as usual we are receiving very positive feedback as participants notice changes to their mental well-being. These group programs provide an excellent introduction to specific mindfulness meditation methods and...
Refresher MiCBT Program
4-week program to refresh skills and understanding of MiCBT On completion of this program through active engagement with the mindfulness exercises participants will be able to: • enhance their daily mindfulness skills • refresh their understanding of the relationship...
Mindfulness-integrated CBT Online Program
• Are you feeling you've lost direction, questioning how you're living, worrying more than usual and feeling anxious - feeling stressed about the future? • Are you noticing that you're eating or drinking more than usual? • Are you feeling an overall drop in your mood...