Taking in the Good: Helping Children Build Inner Strength and Happiness – Rick Hanson

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Scientists believe the brain evolved a "negativity bias" that makes it like Velcro for negative experiences but Teflon for positive ones. This helped our ancestors survive, but it's bad for children (and parents) today - leading them to overreact, hold onto hurts and resentments, and have a harder time developing inner resources. To address this challenge, this presentation will use practical neuroscience to show how to weave positive experiences into the fabric of the brain and the self - including how to pair a positive experience with a negative one to heal old pain.

Welcome, Introductions and Setting the Stage – Steve Hickman and Gina Biegel

Keynote: The Mindful Child: Teaching the New ABCs of Attention, Balance and Compassion – Susan Kaiser-Greenland

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Dedicated to parents, teachers, health care professionals, friends, and others who wish to bring concentration, mindfulness and compassion practices into the lives of youth, Susan Kaiser Greenland's keynote will explore the development of greater concentration, mindfulness and compassion with children and young adults. Areas to be covered will include the relationship between the theory, practice and research associated with the emerging field of mindfulness and youth. She will address the importance of self-care and self-growth and offer tips for establishing your personal practice and integrating mindfulness into your daily life.

Breakout #1: Integrating Mindfulness into the K5 Classroom: Lessons Learned From Teaching Over 13,000 Students – Megan Cowan

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Today's students are faced with information overload, heavy "screen-time", increased pressures to succeed, and growing stressors of the world. As parents and educators, we are encountering more ADHD in young people, more challenging emotional reactions, and our own pressures to provide good education in an increasingly challenging educational environment. Mindfulness is a simple, proven tool to reduce stress and anxiety, decrease depression, improve relationships and resonance with others, strengthen focus and attention, and support overall physical and mental well-being. Proponents of mindfulness recognize the need to teach to the "whole child" by addressing their social-emotional needs. Participants will learn (or be reminded) of the background of mindfulness, its current application in education, the benefits supported by research and neuroscience. Experiential practices will also be introduced so parents and educators will see the benefits for themselves as well as how mindfulness can positively influence young people in the classroom and at home.

Breakout #2: Race to Right Here Right Now: An Introduction for Utilizing and Disseminating Mindfulness with Adolescents – Gina Biegel

Mindfulness is a natural part of being human that involves present moment awareness and can be cultivated through formal and informal exercises. Research on mindfulness interventions point to beneficial effects in emotional, physical, and academic domains, and mindfulness is increasingly integrated into academic and clinical settings involving adolescents. This session provides an introduction and overview of mindfulness in interactions and work with adolescents through the format of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T) Program. This program was created and developed by conference speaker Gina Biegel and has been effective among adolescents in mental health, school and community settings. The MBSR-T, 8-week program has been demonstrated through research to be an effective and evidenced-based intervention to reduce adolescent stress and the physical and psychological problems that result (Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2009; Psychological Assessment 2011). This session will include beginning mindfulness practices through the specific curriculum of the MBSR-T program adapted for work with adolescents.

Breakout #3: Mindful Parents: Resilient Children: Teaching Mindful Parenting Practice through Group and Individual Psychotherapy – M. Lee Freedman

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Anxiety and other stress-related symptoms in children and their parents are presenting in rapidly escalating proportions, highlighting the need for the cultivation of qualities of resilience in order for families to thrive in our rapidly changing, increasingly demanding, and faster moving society. Mindful parenting enriches the parent/child relationship, fosters resilience in children and their parents, and appears to prevent the intergenerational transmission of dysfunctional patterns of relating and functioning. This workshop will describe a multi-dimensional model of therapeutic intervention in which mindful parenting practices are taught in individual, family and/or group therapy through direct practice experience, conceptual teaching, and within a therapeutic relationship that embodies mindful interaction. Participants will gain an understanding of clinical implications, and practical applications of teaching mindful parenting thorough a literature review, case presentations, practice exercises, and discussion.

Lunch

Keynote: Managing the Caveman Brain in the 21st Century – Rick Hanson

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The human brain evolved in three stages: reptile, mammal, and primate. Each stage has a core motivation: avoid harm, approach reward, and attach to "us." Modern life challenges these ancient neural systems with bombardments of threat messages, the endless stimulation of desire, and social disconnections and tensions of industrial, multicultural societies. This talk will explore brain-savvy ways to cultivate mindfulness in young people, and then use that mindfulness to internalize a greater sense of strength and safety, contentment, and being loved.

Breakout #4: Sex, Drugs, Facebook and Ice Cream – Joe Klein

This talk will present a way of engaging adolescents in real talk about habitual and impulsive behaviors and sincere effort towards learning and practicing mindfulness skills for becoming free of self-defeating ruts. Joe will share techniques used on the iBme Teen Retreats as well as creative and innovative interventions garnered from his years of individual and group therapy with adolescents and their families. Teens actually love turning off their cell phones and spending 5 days in partial silence with Joe and his merry band of iBme cohorts. Come find out the simple secret to their methods.

Breakout #5: Teaching Mindfulness to Urban & At-Risk Adolescents – Chris McKenna & Sam Himelstein

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Over the past decade, the mindfulness and youth field has grown from a handful of isolated teachers to a national movement working to integrate mindfulness practices into school-based settings, youth and family services agencies and other sites. The vast majority of books and curriculum materials produced on teaching mindfulness to young people focus on younger, pre-adolescent populations. Many also focus disproportionately on the benefits of the practice without addressing the often significant challenges of implementing mindfulness programs in diverse school and community environments. This workshop will focus on the real world implementation of mindfulness with urban, adolescent populations. It will provide an overview of the core skills and qualities needed to make mindfulness practices accessible to youth in a contemporary, urban, public school and/or community context. The goal will be to move beyond cooker-cutter curriculum and scripting and discuss real world approaches to making mindfulness practice relevant to youth using language and metaphors they can understand and connect with. Significant attention will also be paid to the roll of the facilitator in the delivery of successful mindfulness interventions to this population. Research support and theoretical underpinnings will be presented briefly, and time will be allotted towards the end for participants to bring candid, real-world problems from their own teaching to the facilitators.

Breakout #5.5: Teen Panel – David Viafora and Lorraine Hobbs

Amidst all the discussion of the power and promise of bringing mindfulness to kids and teens, perhaps we could pause a moment and consider a different viewpoint: that of the people we hope to reach. We have assembled this panel of teens who have received mindfulness training (via various means) to engage in a dialogue around the impact, potentials and pitfalls of this work. Intended to be an open and freewheeling discussion with ample time for audience participation, the facilitators will begin with some important questions for the panelists to discuss and then open up the floor for input from the audience.

Keynote: From Dazed and Distracted to Attentive and Calm: What the Neuroscience of Mindfulness Reveals – Amishi Jha

The mind's default mode may be one of mindlessness, mind-wandering, and distractibility. For students, this mode is particularly challenging when trying to read a book, complete homework, or pay attention in class. In addition to potentially derailing learning and academic achievement, there is growing evidence that the default mode of mindlessness has emotional consequences. Mind-wandering is tied to heightened negative mood and self-related preoccupation. Dr. Jha's presentation will examine if mindfulness training may be an antidote to pervasive mind-wandering. Brain-imaging data from a growing field of research will bereviewed which suggests that mindfulness training not only alters brain function during performance of attention tasks but may also change the way the brain functions 'by default', when participants are simply instructed to rest while getting their brains scanned. Results demonstrating that attentional task performance is improved and self-reported mind-wandering is reduced with short- and long-form mindfulness training will also be discussed. These cognitive neuroscience findings suggest that mindfulness training may, indeed, improve the brain'sability to be attentive and calm. Use of mindfulness training in education contexts should be further explored as a fruitful route by which to curb mind-wandering and promote learning in children and adults.

Keynote: Courage in Schools: Connecting Hearts and Minds in the Adult Community – Pamela Seigle and Chip Wood

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Courage in Schools is a national initiative of the Center for Courage & Renewal, reaching educators in diverse settings nationally. Our programs are inspired by author, educator, and activist Parker J. Palmer and his seminal work Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. In this keynote, we will engage in an interactive exploration of strategies and approaches focusing on reflection, renewal, and relationships. These practices support the capacity of adults who work with children to be mindful and present to themselves and the young people they serve. We will integrate theories such as attunement and relational trust in this presentation, and facilitate an exploration of these qualities experientially as well.

Breakout #6: Still Quiet Place: Proven Practices for Teaching Children and Teens the Skills for Peace and Happiness–Amy Saltzman

In this session you will participate in practices that you can take home to use in your work with children and teens. You will receive a framework for offering these practices to individuals and groups, and an overview of the research proven 8-week Still Quiet Place curriculum. Age-adapted versions of this curriculum have benefited youth of all ages from preschoolers to undergraduates in variety of settings-- affluent independent schools, low-income, predominantly Spanish-speaking public schools, middle class community and clinical research settings, and Stanford University. During the session you will participate in practices that allow you (and subsequently those you serve) to experience the Still Quiet Place (pure awareness) within; you will gain an understanding of how observing thoughts and feelings from this place of stillness and quietness enhances attention, decreases anxiety, supports youth in choosing healthy behaviors and in being more compassionate with themselves and others. We will briefly review the research supporting this curriculum specifically, and mindfulness with youth generally. We will discuss what is required for who wish to do this very intimate and important work, and there will also be time for questions and answers.

Breakout #7: Brain Abnormalities Associated with Mood and Anxiety Disorders in Adolescents – Amy Garrett

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The urgent need for effective psychiatric interventions for teens is emphasized by the high prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in this age group. Illnesses such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder typically onset during adolescence, and can negatively impact the development of brain networks subserving emotion regulation, attention, and cognitive flexibility. Therefore, psychiatric problems during the teen years can have long-lasting effects in many domains. On the other hand, because of the neuronal plasticity associated with this age group, interventions during adolescence can be especially effective and long-lasting. This session will review the prevalence of adolescent mood and anxiety disorders, and describe the brain abnormalities associated with each illness, as revealed through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research. We will also discuss preliminary studies that find evidence of change in brain function following behavioral treatments.

Breakout #8: Yoga at the Edge of Trauma – Mark Lilly

This workshop illuminates the relationships between caregivers, youth at-risk, and trauma, and how yoga can serve as a context and healing agent for all parties. Trauma affects everyone to some degree, and mindful services directed at those who have experienced significant primary trauma must account for self-care, energetics, communication, and beliefs, in addition to the physiological effects that trauma has on human beings. This workshop is useful for front-line service providers, including social workers, nurses, police officers, schoolteachers, mental health therapists and more.

Breakout #9: Bringing the Soul Back to School: Lessons Learned from over 15 Years of Teaching Mindfulness and Mind-Body Health in Israeli Schools – Nimrod Sheinman, ND

"If you've save one human being's soul", says an old Jewish proverb, "It is as if you've saved the whole world". How about one school's soul? The presentation will be dedicated to a unique primary school in South Tel-Aviv, where the Sfat HaKeshev program (Mindful Language, in Hebrew) became an important integral part of the school's life for the last 10 years. The program was integrated into the school's curriculum on a once a week basis, so that each class experiences the mindful learning throughout the whole year. In the last few years, kids graduating the school at the age of 13, have had mindfulness-based learning on a once a week basis throughout their whole school experience of 5-6 years. We'll present empirical findings of the "long term practice", it's influence on kids, as well as the influence of the program on the teaching community. We'll outline a brief roadmap of the program principles, as well as a summary of the imagery-based mindfulness components, which the kids love so much. 

Closing – Steve Hickman & Gina Biegel

Workshop #1: Mindfulness for Professionals Working with Adolescents: A Training in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program for Teens (MBSR-T) – Gina Biegel

This training is specifically designed for those who work and/or interact with adolescents specifically in a therapeutic, hospital or educational setting. This is an opportunity to learn more about working with and approaching teens through the lens of mindfulness. This is an overview of the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program for Teens (MBSR-T) that has been researched to be an effective and evidenced-based intervention to reduce adolescent stress in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2009 and Psychological Assessment, 2011. This training will be comprised of both experiential practices and a dissemination of specific curricula to use with adolescents. The experiential practices will include both formal and informal adolescent-adapted mindfulness meditations. The curriculum will be explained in detail so that you may then use these practices with teens after you have completed learning about the program. This training is meant for those who are already familiar with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and wish to learn more about an adapted version with adolescents.

Learning Objectives:

• To demonstrate that the field of mindfulness with adolescents is increasing both in research and practice
• To explain the purpose and necessity of introducing and using mindfulness with teens in today’s society and how to implement these skills with adolescents
• To explore the 8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program for Teens (MBSR-T) via experiential activities and an intensive overview of the curriculum to utilize with teens

Workshop #2: Introduction to Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) – Randye Semple

This is an introductory workshop for clinicians who treat children suffering from debilitating worries and anxiety. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Children (MBCT-C) is an innovative program designed to help children manage anxiety and stress with care and compassion. Based on the MBCT program for adults, MBCT-C combines the practice and clinical application of mindfulness meditation with the tools of cognitive therapy in a format that is child-friendly and engaging. Background will be provided about the theoretical foundations of MBCT-C, its research support, and the developmental adaptations necessary when implementing a mindfulness-based treatment approach with children. The 12-session MBCT-C program will be described in detail. MBCT-C emphasizes the importance of the clinician's own meditation practice. Clinicians will learn ways to use the self-knowledge gained from his or her own practice to help children develop new ways of relating to the mind states that are characteristic of anxiety disorders. We will explore through discussion, role-plays, and experiential practices, ways that mindful awareness activities are taught to children.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the origins and rationale behind MBCT-C
• Articulate and explain the main objectives of MBCT-C
• Recognize the developmental adaptations needed to conduct mindfulness-based interventions with children
• Discuss the importance of one's own meditation practice in facilitating the social-emotional resiliency of children

Workshop #3: SMART in Education: Mindfulness-Based Emotional Balance for Educators – Amy Saltzman and Margaret Cullen

SMARTinEDUCATION (Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques) is a research-based course specifically designed to support teachers in reducing stress, increasing well-being, and reclaiming their inherent wholeness and happiness.  The SMART curriculum is an exquisite combination of training in mindfulness based stress reduction, emotion theory, compassion, and forgiveness. With SMART, hundreds of teachers in the US and Canada have learned to step out of the stress reaction cycle of ruminating thoughts and overwhelming emotions, and  respond more thoughtfully (rather than react from auto-pilot) in difficult situations. By the end of the course participants experience greater awareness and presence, as well as improved health and well-being.  Most importantly, job satisfaction goes up and burnout goes down.

Research confirms that the SMARTinEDUCATION participants showed significant reductions in occupational stress, burnout, anxiety and depression, and significant increases in mindfulness, and sleep quality and quantity.  Teachers also reported using more effective problem solving skills, mindful reflection and planning, along with decreased self-preoccupation, reactivity,  blaming and rumination.

This workshop will provide an overview of the SMART program with particular emphasis on the program components which are distinct from MBSR and MBCT such as emotion theory, compassion and forgiveness.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the origins and rationale behind the SMART program
• Explain the value of supporting educators first
• Reconnect with your deepest values and intentions in the classroom and beyond
• Challenge misperceptions and limiting beliefs about forgiveness