Why continue training through certification?
Dear Friends on the MBSR MBTI, or any other training pathway,
Some of you may know me and many probably not. My name is Beth Mulligan, PA-C. I’m also a certified MBSR teacher/ International teacher trainer with three major Centers for Mindfulness, and author of The Dharma of Modern Mindfulness. Right now, my heart and my time are really committed to the UCSD Mindfulness-Based Training Institute, which I am very proud of. Together with my dear friend of many years and colleague- Founding Director of the UCSD MBTI, Steve Hickman, PsyD, we’ve been revamping the teacher trainings and began offering them in 2018. I then had the opportunity to teach these with Steve (and 2 more on the schedule for this year). After this I began to mentor some of our trainees and see that they were in fact very well prepared. I then turned to my friend and Colleague Chrsitiane Wolf M.D., Ph D. who is mentoring some of our other trainees. She agrees, they are well prepared (with the important support of mentorship and community of other teachers) She too has done teacher trainings with other institutions.
What we’ve been deeply interested in, is offering some reasons for engaging you in on-going training in your MBSR teaching journey.
When I trained in 2003 with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, we were simply handed the curriculum and told to go forth and teach. UMASS CFM soon began to develop a more comprehensive and much needed teacher training pathway,
I took my time. After several years and about 20 rounds of MBSR, I went to the next teacher training- level 2. I went with out any goal, I taught in a very isolated area with no other MBSR teachers, and was really lacking in community and an opportunity for growth as a teacher and person. I was very involved with my Zen Center and teacher, but it wasn’t quite the same.
Many times during this training, I had tears running down my cheeks, the instructors checked in and I told them, “these are tears of joy, it feels so good to have a community. I can’t believe I wake up and am surrounded by other MBSR teachers from around the world!!” I got to see that I actually was on track in many areas and was developing what happens to all of us- some “drift”. Places where we may subtly begin to draw away from certain areas of the curriculum that is outside our comfort zone. And emphasize others where we stand on more solid ground (for example as a PA, I was very comfortable with Stress Physiology, and as a martial Artist- the Aikido exercises in class 6. I had actually dropped the 9 dots and was using some of the other options for class 2. But seeing my colleagues teach it, and talking about my own fears, in a safe environment, I began to re-incorporate it. I then had the chance to co-teach with a very strong and experienced MBSR teacher and train teachers with her, only to find she had almost completely dropped the unpleasant events calendar because there was so much push-back from the students. During an ATTI, watching some inquiry, I noticed one teacher who was very skilled, however one of her “soft spots” was she was quite aversive to anger and conflict. I noticed the student with whom she was doing inquiry was also conflict adverse. The student began by talking about some strong anger that had come up. The trainee practicing inquiry, skipped over the anger in the inquiry and went for exploring the ‘softer” emotions”. At some point I stepped in and we circled back to the anger, and a powerful transformation occurred for both of them. (As a conflict adverse person myself, it was just something I had worked on a lot more).
When I got home from level 2 Teacher training, I signed up for supervision, which fell at a time just after I had lost my Mom. Having this support in teaching during this time of grieving, was invaluable. I treasured it. Still no pursuit of certification….
One evening I was at the annual UMASS Scientific Conference on Mindfulness, I was seated at dinner with one of my Amsterdam colleagues, who previously had turned to me for help for some informal mentoring, he asked why I was not certified. “Well I am doing everything I want to do right now, so give me a reason.” He immediately said- “the research”. That got my attention, and I proceeded to apply and was granted certification. In the years post certification, I have indeed been involved in some amazing research. The current NIH study I am the lead teacher in, would not have been granted without my certification. Soon after that, a friend said, “now that you are certified, let’s train teachers together!”, and we did! I then found out that by being certified, I could supervise/mentor people, and became a teacher trainer and MBSR Silent retreat leader.
Now this will not be the same reasons for you, so I invite you to find YOUR reason. As Mindfulness has become more popular in the workplace and even places like Kaiser and Aetna (two large health care organizations in the USA) have incorporated it they want certified teachers, and if you’ve tried to fill classes on your own you might appreciate having a connection with an institution. I also teach it at large medical Center for Integrative medicine, again- certification required.
It’s more important than ever to pursue MBSR Certification.
I was recently asked to participate in a beautiful series of trainings in Europe through the UCSD MBTI with a group of my colleagues, designed to support people in the more interesting and subtle aspects of MBSR. What the coordinator wrote; spoke so perfectly to my own concerns and interests very deeply, that I want to share a bit of it here:
“During the last months, at Sapienza University, we have been discussing about how to draw more of our MBSR studentsand teachers, to the Certification path.
After having taught at Sapienza for the last 6 years and witnessed also other options across the country, I’ve started seeing a trend: many teachers just want their certificate from the shortest possibile TT and will never start pursuing a more advanced and in-dept education.
I’m a bit worried that some TT institutes seem to have the primary goal of increasing the number of students.At Sapienza University we’re strongly trying to offer a different option and point of view: teaching mindfulness is a life-long journey that entails great responsibilities, a continuous training and a personal, strong, commitment to the practice.
We’re trying to offer a program that isn’t seen as the ending point, rather the beginning of a training which will be continued in the next years (possibly at MBPTI, since I trust so much the quality of that certification path)
“Since we started our collaboration with UCSD, things have started shifiting a bit and more and more students from last years have enrolled in international qualification\certification programs and mentorship rounds. Several are in their way and many, from the current year, have also expressed their interest in the same direction.
During the last months, at Sapienza University, we have been discussing about how to draw more of our MBSR students to the Certification path.
After having taught at Sapienza for the last 6 years and witnessed also other options across the country, I’ve started seeing a trend: many teachers just want their certificate from the shortest possibile TT and will never start pursuing a more advanced and in-dept education.
I’m a bit worried that some TT institutes seem to have the primary goal of increasing the number of students.
At Sapienza University we’re strongly trying to offer a different option and point of view: teaching mindfulness is a life-long journey that entails great responsibilities, a continuous training and a personal, strong, commitment to the practice.
We’re trying to offer a program that isn’t seen as the ending point, rather the beginning of a training which will be continued in the next years (possibly at MBPTI, since I trust so much the quality of that certification path)
Since we started our collaboration with UCSD, things have started shifiting a bit and more and more students from last years have enrolled in international qualification\certification programs and mentorship rounds. Several are in their way and many, from the current year, have also expressed their interest in the same direction.”
So with this I deeply hope you’ll consider pursuing certification, one step at a time.
(Next one coming up Northern California Sept 2019, with lots more in the US and Europe). https://mbpti.org/mbpti-events/mbsr-mbct-atti-sep2019/
I hope to meet you there, or next year!
Sincerely, Beth Mulligan http://www.bethmulligan.com