Melbourne Mindfulness Institute – a psychology clinic offering individual and group therapy that is mindfulness informed.
We are highly trained in mindfulness-integrated cognitive behaviour therapy (MiCBT) in addition to our generalist psychology professional training. Our research – published in Frontiers in Psychiatry – demonstrates the effectiveness of the mindfulness-based approach.
We treat a wide range of mental health conditions. Our aim is to provide client centred care that works with the underlying processes that cause and maintain psychological distress.
We work with a 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
- Life transitions: transitions in work; transitions to parenthood; end of career transitions
Group programs for 2023
NEXT PROGRAM – COMMENCES AUGUST 30
8 weeks 6-8pm
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Refresher Program
NEXT PROGRAM – COMMENCES Sept 27th
4 weeks 12.30-1.30pm
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious? Are you feeling low or behaving poorly to those around you?
Mindfulness integrated with CBT offers a wonderful toolkit that helps to understand the relationship between thinking and emotions and the processes that create and maintain unhelpful habits. The skills enable deep levels of change; a path to achieving peace of mind. They may be learned in the process of individual therapy (preferred for complex and acute problems) or through group work. Our program has been subjected to to robust research demonstrating its effectiveness across a broad range of issues.
Contact us for individual psychology sessions or formal mindfulness training.
Mindfulness Therapists Support
Monthly MiCBT Interest and Research Group – Peer supervision meeting and research update – 3rd Thursday of each month. Contact Dr Sarah Francis for more information
8 Week Program
Our group programs teach MiCBT over 8 weeks online. The group programs are designed to teach the skills to manage thought processes and emotional reactivity. Participants need to be willing to commit to regular daily mindfulness meditation practice. The group programs do not deal with individual issues.
Refresher Programs and Ongoing Support
Refresher programs are designed for those who have learned the MiCBT skills and need a refresher.
We also offer three session of lightly guided meditations each week to support people to maintain their skills – see members page for the link.
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.
LOCATION
50 Dudley Street
West Melbourne 3003
OFFICE HOURS
Monday to Friday: 9:00 – 18:00
Some Saturdays & Evenings by arrangement
Sunday: Closed
CONTACT
Phone: 0409 669 688