Schedule and Registration

Note: CFM requires a minimum of 10 registrants per program. Classes with fewer than 10 registrants will be cancelled and provided a refund. Please be aware of this when making arrangements to attend this program.

Course Description

Have you ever felt swamped by a flood of negative thoughts and emotions? Have you ever found yourself feeling down and blue? You are not alone. Feeling anxious or sad is really common these days and the World Health Organization (WHO) says that depressive mood and anxiety could be the biggest health problems we face in the world.

Well, you are in the right place! Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy(MBCT) is an 8-week, evidence-based, experiential program that is designed to cultivate resilience and safeguard against recurring bouts of negative thoughts, emotions, and low mood. Research finds MBCT to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and to be a great alternative to medication. In this course, we will turn to habitual thought patterns that keep us stuck and spiralling, and we will build our capacity to respond to life’s challenges in more mindful and attentive ways. Unlock your inner resilience and embrace emotional balance by joining this transformative 8-week course!

Participants will learn to:

• Attend to patterns of thought, emotions, behavior
• Raise awareness of and reduce identification with negative states
• Build skills to prevent relapse using mindfulness meditation techniques
• Learn to respond rather than react, using the element of choice

Who should participate:

If you often worry about the future or dwell on the past, experience low mood, or have a history of anxiety and/or depression, this is the class for you. A commitment to attendance of 80% of the full series and home practice activities is required. Participants are strongly encouraged to attend the daylong silent retreat.

Helpful Resources: 

• The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress by  John Teasdale (Author), Mark Williams (Author), Zindel Segal (Author), Jon Kabat-Zinn (Foreword)
• Video of Zindel Segal, one of the founders of the program, speaking about MBCT: https://youtu.be/kFfqSk15fNM
• An individual patient data meta-analysis from randomized trials has demonstrated MBCT is as effective as antidepressants in the prevention of depressive relapse. (Kuyken, 2016)

Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

• Articulate the key aspects of mindfulness as it relates to coping with negative moods and preventing relapse of depression and anxiety.
• Differentiate MBCT from and other CBT techniques that may seem similar but are quite different in contending with negative mood states.
• Practice the key aspects of mindfulness to manage symptoms and to prevent relapse of depression and anxiety.
• Apply mindfulness and cognitive therapy techniques when managing difficult situations and emotions in both personal and professional settings.
• Explain the potential benefits mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (and mindfulness) to family and friends (note : This course does not train facilitators, it is for participants wishing to learn the tools and techniques of MBCT for themselves).
• Create plans to continue and deepen personal practice of mindfulness.

8-week MBCT Course Fee

The course includes the handouts, guided meditations and instruction and is offered for $575 ($525 if you pay in full 30 days in advance for the course). 

UC SAN DIEGO EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT

UC San Diego Employees may take the course for $525 (or $475 if you pay in full 30 days prior to the start of class).

UC SAN DIEGO HEALTH EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT

We have partnered with the UC San Diego Health Employee Wellness Program. UC San Diego Health Employee Fee: $365.

UCSD Health Employees are eligible for a yearly subsidy of up to $210 for any of our programs. Learn more here!

Cancellation Policy

A refund (minus your $50 non-refundable deposit) will be made for participants who withdraw prior to the 2nd class by emailing mindfulness@health.ucsd.edu. There will be no refunds after the 2nd class starts. Registration, deposits, and funds are non-transferable.

In the unlikely event that the course is canceled, UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness is responsible only for a full refund of the registration fee and not for transportation, hotel accommodations or any miscellaneous expenses.

The refunds are processed in the same method as the payments were submitted.