It has been extremely well organised and Susann is a very knowledgeable and
empathic teacher. I found the experience very useful and supportive. I enjoyed the
variety of meditations...
I have always felt very supported by Susann. I would recommend Susann and London
Meditation, both professionally and personally Susann. I have really enjoyed the sessions
and although I thought I had a good grasp of what mindfulness is, you have provided a subtle
understanding for me, as a way a book or website could not. Thanks...
Sharing things with the group was very useful. Great teacher and the
"structured" homework was very helpful. Thank you!! It’s been an
enriching experience...
Dear Susann, just writing to express my gratitude, you were a
wonderful teacher, thank you for your patience and all the beautiful teachings, I still
do my meditation of choice but I remember all the important things I’ve learned
about staying in the moment, detaching from my ego thoughts, being able to stand
the pain one breath at a time, that it is ok even when it is not ok, 3 min coping deep
breaths, it was brilliant and I’ll try to remember, thanks again for your
patience...
It’s good to know this place
and you exist for the future, to have somewhere to come when I feel the need. I feel I
can call and talk to you Susann. I have confidence that you’ll be generous with your
time, as you were when I first spoken to you...
I found the venue to be a safe, relaxing, welcoming place for the course.
Susann has a good approach which is both caring yet firm. It has provided me with a set of
wonderful tools for the future. Thank you Susann for a enjoyable and helpful course!
...
I do hope that I can do another course later in the year as I was very impressed
with how you conducted the classes...
Most enjoyable were all the guided meditations taken by Susann, especially the longer
ones, the "shake-out dance" and the mindful walking...
Wonderful set up – so calm and precise, really made the sessions feel good.
I liked that each sessions was so clear and organised. Thank you very much! I really
think that your project is amazing and such an important – job – what an
incredible resource! I will definitely want to stay involved and attend another
course in the future...
Voices from the MBCT Winter Group Course 2009/10
For more voices click here.
Susann Herrmann, Dipl. Psych. (MA)
Co-Founder of London Meditation
trained by Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli
The focus of Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy is teaching clients how to make
a simple yet radical shift in their relationship to the thoughts, feelings, and
bodily sensations.
Developed by leading scientist-practitioners, and solidly grounded in current psychological
research, the approach integrates cognitive therapy principles and practice into
a mindfulness framework.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
MBCT offers a provocative, sophisticated combination of Eastern and Western approaches
to psychological well-being.
Aaron T. Beck, MD
... the new, increasingly popular course called Mindfulness Based Cognitive
Therapy (MBCT) – which primarily consists of meditation ... is currently available
in every county across the UK, and is recommended by the NHS ...
BBC Two, 31 March 08
Alternative Therapies
MBCT
Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
MBCT is part of our Meditative Therapy Programme.
What is mindfulness?
Mindfulness practice helps us to see more clearly the patterns of the mind and teaches us to stay in the present moment, rather than reliving the past or pre-living the future. You learn in the first place just to be conscious and accept whatever is there. Acceptance means seeing things as they actually are in the present. We cultivate acceptance by taking each moment as it comes and being with it fully, as it is! And by this acceptance you will see that changing happen by itself.
What is MBCT?
It combines a form of Eastern meditation with elements of Cognitive Therapy in an eight session programme.
It was developed by Prof. Mark Williams (Oxford), John Teasdale (Oxford/Cambridge) and Zindel Segal (Toronto) for people who have been repeatedly depressed to help them stay well.
It is closely based on Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction programme (MBSR) at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre, which has been found to produce significant change in participants’ ability to deal with chronic pain, anxiety and stress.
Content of the MBCT eight session programme
- Automatic pilot
- Dealing with barriers
- Mindfulness of the breath
- Staying present
- Allowing/Letting be
- Thoughts are not facts
- How can I best take care of myself?
- Using what has been learned to deal with future moods
How does MBCT work?
By practising in sessions, and by listening to guided meditations at home during the week, you learn the practice of mindfulness meditation.
Practices such as the Body Scan, Breathing meditation, and simple Yoga exercises that allow you to come in touch with moment-to-moment changes in the mind and the body and foster a new, ’decentered’ perspective to your thoughts and feelings.
The sessions include basic education about mental health issues, plus exercises from cognitive therapy that show the links between thinking and feeling and how you can look after yourself.
MBCT is challenging and life-affirming. Participating requires an ongoing commitment to yourself (home assignments).
What do you learn?
- to become familiar with the workings of your mind
- to notice the times when you are at risk of getting caught in old habits of mind that re-activate downward mood spirals
- to explore ways of releasing yourself from those old habits and, if you choose, enter a different way of being
- to put you in touch with a different way of knowing yourself and the world
- to notice small beauties and pleasures in the world around you instead of living in your head
- to be kind to yourself instead of wishing things were different all the time, or driving yourself to meet impossible goals
- to find a way so you don’t have to battle with yourself all the time
- to accept yourself as you are, rather than judging yourself all the time
Your Therapist
Susann Herrmann, CPsychol./OccupPsychol.(MA)
- Trained by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D.
- Founder and former Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic,
- former Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness
- and Professor of Medicine, Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School
- Saki Santorelli, Ph.D.
- Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness,
- Director of the Stress Reduction Clinic
- and Assistant. Professor of Medicine, Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School
- Mark Williams, Prof.
- Professor of Clinical Psychology and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at the University of Oxford,
- has held previous posts at the Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge and the University of Wales, Bangor,
- Co-Developer of the MBCT Programme
- and Co-Author of ’The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness’
- and by John Teasdale, Ph.D.
- Research scientist, University of Oxford and Cambridge,
- one of the pioneers of cognitive therapy research in UK,
- Co-Developer of the MBCT Programme
- and Co-Author of ’The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness’
- Graduated from the Intensive Residential MBSR Practicum
- led by Melissa Blacker (MA) and Florence Meleo-Meyer (MS, MA)
Senior Teachers and Co-Directors of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction professional training and education programs at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
- led by Melissa Blacker (MA) and Florence Meleo-Meyer (MS, MA)
MBCT group course
Venue:
The Penthouse (Flat 8), 89 – 95 Parkway, Camden Town, NW1 7PP
(Street-map please see here).
-
Dates for autumn course (I): Thursdays
Sep 23, Sep 30, Oct 14, Oct 21, Oct 28, Nov 04, Nov 18, Nov 25
Time: Thu 7 - 9pm (please arrive between 6.45 - 7pm)
Cost: £ 275 including handouts & guided meditations.
For testimonials click here.
-
Dates for autumn course (II): Tuesdays
Oct 19, Oct 26, Nov 02, Nov 09, Nov 16, Nov 23, Nov 30, Dec 07
Time: Tue 7 - 9pm (please arrive between 6.45 - 7pm)
Cost: £ 275 including handouts & guided meditations.
For testimonials click here.
MBCT one2one course
Please don’t hesitate to contact Susann to get an appointment for a non-obligatory consultation to help you make up your mind.
Duration of sessions: 90 minutes
Cost Mon – Fri (daytime): £ 95 – last session starts 4pm –
including handouts and guided meditations.
Cost evenings and weekends: £ 110
including handouts and guided meditations.
For testimonials click here.
If you have any questions please call 020 7424 9027 or send an email.
