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Stand Alone Module
Mindfulness for the Caring Professions
Level 7
30 Credits
- Duration:
- Seven Weeks
- Start Dates:
- September 2012
- Attendance:
- One day per week (2-9pm)
- Venue:
- High Wycombe
- Key Contact:
- The Enquiries Team
- Tel:
- 01494 603171
- Email:
- ask@bucks.ac.uk
Is this course suitable for me?
This 15 credit module is suitable for individuals working in caring professions who seek to advance their practice skills in ways that support their own well-being and that of their patients or clients. This is also an optional module on the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology scheduled to commence in September.
Overview
This course will introduce the principles and practices of ‘mindfulness’ to individuals in caring professions. The teaching will be experientially based, backed by a theoretical exploration of each topic. The course will include an exploration of the effect of the mindfulness practices on us as individuals and its contribution to professional self-care, how this may inform and change our professional skills (e.g. increasing attention and awareness), and the potential reaction from patients or clients in response to this display of personal awareness and care.
The topic areas will include:
• the background and origins of mindfulness;
• the foundations of a mindfulness practice – the approaches to breathing and the attitudes and ways of encountering the response of the ‘mind’;
• developing and increasing a ‘present moment awareness’, and through the mindfulness practices, how these might influence the growth of qualities such as empathy and compassion;
• the reflective practices that allow us to become aware and tolerant of personal reactions and responses;
• additional mindfulness practices, such as the ‘body scan technique’, yoga and walking meditation;
• the regular practice of mindfulness during course time and outside of the course, and the development of reflexive learning from these experiences;
• the impact on personal and professional health and self-care, the means through which mindfulness may become a route for working with personal experiences and physical symptoms, and how it may be used as a means of ‘self-supervision’ as a health-care professional;
• the potential applications and limitations of mindfulness;
• the evidence base of the positive impact of mindfulness on patients and client groups with specific conditions, the practice of healthcare professionals, and the response of patients to caring professionals ‘mindful’ of their behaviours;
• an exploration of the effect the experiences of mindfulness have on paradigms of thinking related to healthcare activity.
Content
This module provides the opportunity for you to:
• explore and develop a personal mindfulness practice, with associated personal and professional benefits that will influence well-being, decrease stress, and develop the qualities of inter-personal relationships;
• develop a personal understanding and experience of the potential impact of mindfulness practice on concentration and engagement with professional work, and tolerance of stress;
• learn how mindfulness research and practices may contribute to professional activity.
What will I learn?
On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:
• understand the origins, nature and potential uses of mindfulness in personal and professional settings;
• understand and use a range of mindfulness practices in your personal and/or professional life;
• develop reflexive practices and understanding via the use of mindfulness in professional activity;
• critically understand and analyse the research evidence for mindfulness in different professional work;
• critically understand and analyse how mindfulness practices effect concepts of physical and mental health.
Teaching and learning
A fundamental teaching principle of mindfulness is awareness and tolerance of individual experience and learning, and you will be encouraged to form a learning community where shared individual views and expertise collectively provide insights into the topics and theories being explored in mindfulness.
You will engage in a variety of other activities, including personal mindfulness practice, analysis of key readings, exercises on systematic literature reviewing and critiquing journal articles, group discussions, debates, videos and practical activities.
A range of summative assessment methods will be employed on this course, as follows:
• Mindfulness practice – a substantial part of each seminar will be given over to the practice and development of mindfulness. This will develop your skills, and provide experience of the gains of mindfulness and illustrate the values and tolerance needed.
• Reflexive logs (and blogs) – these will enable you to develop your reflexive learning skills which are crucial to the professional practice of community psychology. The use of blogs will enable you to develop your IT skills whilst also addressing summative issues in your learning.
• Secondary research reports / essays – these will provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate in-depth understanding of a particular aspect of your learning. It will encourage you to engage in conducting a systematic literature review and provide the opportunity to demonstrate your capacity to critically analyse, synthesise and evaluate the principles, processes, policies and debates inherent in the material, and to present a rational, coherent, information-based argument and evidenced based solutions to problems. In some modules, you will be asked to prepare this as an article submission to a journal for publication.
Entry requirements
This module assumes you will be working in some form of caring profession, with associated professional qualifications. Given its experiential nature, you will be expected to spend approximately 30 – 40 minutes per day during the course developing a personal mindfulness practice. As this course is also an optional module on the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, teaching and assessments will be at master’s degree level. A personal discussion with one of the course team will take place before applicants are accepted.
How to make an application
Please contact the Marketing & Recruitment Administrator on 01494 603 171 or email ask@bucks.ac.uk.
Students funded by the NHS or other employer
If the cost of your course is being funded by your employer, please contact your education lead or manager for guidance as to how they would prefer you to make an application.