Good Practice Guidelines

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Trainers need to meet and adhere to the Good Practice Guidelines for Teachers.

In addition, they need to meet the following Good Practice Guidelines for Trainers of Mindfulness-Based Teachers:

1. Have had full teaching responsibility for at least nine mindfulness-based courses over a minimum of three years.
2. To be offering training pathways which have a minimum of 12 months duration.
3. To be a proficient teacher of mindfulness-based courses – as assessed by experienced colleagues and potentially through the use of the Mindfulness-based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI: TAC).
4. Have trained to be a trainer via an apprenticeship with a more experienced trainer and demonstrated a competency in training others.
5. To continue to teach mindfulness-based courses to people with varying levels of experience as a teacher, alongside training teachers.
6. Be in a regular supervisory relationship in relation to teaching practice and its interface with personal mindfulness practice, and engage in peer relationships with other trainers.
7. Attend annual retreats which facilitate practice at depth, some of which are at least 7-10 days in duration.
8. Stay up to date with the current and developing evidence base for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular emphasis on the training organisation’s area of expertise.
9. Be up to date with current methods of assessing mindfulness-based teaching competency and maintaining good practice.
10. Be steeped in the practice and understanding of mindfulness which is informed by both relevant current scientific and/or clinical understanding as well as its historical antecedents from relevant spiritual and philosophical traditions, the most common example of which is the Buddhist tradition.
11. Be a compassionate and strong team player – willing to operate in the context of a training team and in connection with others who are training teachers in the UK context.

Mindfulness-based teacher trainers need well developed skills, understandings and attitudes in the following areas:

1. An experientially gained understanding of the complexity of mindfulness as an approach and its transformational potential.
2. An in-depth understanding of the aims and intentions of the full range of curriculum components within the mindfulness-based course they are training others to teach.
3. An understanding of the underlying theoretical principles of the mindfulness-based courses they are training others to teach.
4. Understand and have the capacity to train others in the principles underpinning the adaptation of mindfulness-based courses to different contexts and populations.
5. Skill in working with groups, especially the creation of a safe and challenging learning environment.
6. The ability and skill needed to support trainees in identifying their strengths and learning needs, and providing feedback which facilitates new learning.
7. An understanding of the complex interface between MBAs taught in a therapeutic context and mindfulness as taught in traditional or specific cultural contexts and a commitment to being transparent in regard to which context(s) mindfulness teaching/training is being offered.

The trainer will work within the ethical framework of his/her profession or training and will additionally have particularly developed sensitivities in relation to:

• Only training within the limits and boundaries of competence
• Only asking trainees what is asked of self in relation to informal and formal mindfulness practice

Revised October 2013

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DEFINITION OF MINDFULNESS SUPERVISION:

A regular space that is contracted between supervisor and supervisee, which enables reflection on the supervisee’s mindfulness-based teaching, facilitates development, and considers how teaching interfaces with their personal mindfulness practice and life. The process is dedicated to developing integrity and safety and deepening understanding and effectiveness of the supervisee’s application of mindfulness, both personally and in their working life.

A. MINDFULNESS-BASED TEACHING, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

• Mindfulness Supervisors need to meet and adhere to the British Association of Mindfulness-Based Approaches Good Practice Guidelines for Teaching Mindfulness-Based Courses (October 2019) and be listed as a teacher on the BAMBA Teachers Listing.
• Mindfulness Supervisors also need to meet and adhere to the following aspects of the BAMBA Good Practice Guidelines for Trainers of Mindfulness-Based Teachers (Oct 2013):
• Continue to teach mindfulness-based courses.
• Have had full teaching responsibility for at least nine 8-week mindfulness-based courses over a minimum of three years.
• Be a proficient teacher of mindfulness-based courses – as assessed by experienced colleagues and potentially through the use of the Mindfulness-based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI: TAC).
• When supervising novice teachers, ensure they are following the curriculum which they have been trained to deliver.
• Be in a regular mindfulness supervisory relationship in relation to teaching practice and its interface with personal mindfulness practice, and supervision of supervision (supravision).
• Attend regular retreats (ideally at least 7 days) which facilitate mindfulness practice in depth.
• Stay up to date with the current and developing evidence base for mindfulness-based interventions, with a particular emphasis on the supervision area of expertise.
• Be up to date with current methods of assessing mindfulness-based teaching competency and maintaining good practice.
• Be steeped in the practice and understanding of mindfulness which is informed by both relevant current scientific and/or clinical theoretical underpinnings as well as its historical antecedents from relevant spiritual and philosophical traditions, the most common example of which is the Buddhist tradition.
• Only ask of trainees what is asked of self, in relation to informal and formal mindfulness practice

B. MINDFULNESS-BASED SUPERVISION: TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE

Supervisors need to:

• Have completed mindfulness-specific supervision training (minimum of 2 days) or have demonstrable equivalent experience.
• Work within an inquiry-led model of mindfulness-based supervision (see: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-014-0292-4) as well as have some familiarity with other models of supervision.
• Be familiar with the use of the Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC) as an aid to supervision.
• Be familiar with the principles that influence learning and development of individuals and groups.
• Have on-going study and guidance to support a deepening of the supervisor’s own personal mindfulness practice. This might include interviews or meetings with a teacher on teacher-led retreats; on-going dialogue with a teacher experienced in meditation; and/or guidance and study with an experienced mindfulness supervisor who has these skills and experience.
• Have a deep familiarity with the theoretical underpinnings of the mindfulness approach being taught and its aims and intentions e.g. MBSR/MBCT and engage in regular updates e.g. through reading, workshops etc.
• Identify their own limits in terms of specialist knowledge and experience, context and their own mindfulness practice.

C. MINDFULNESS-BASED SUPERVISION IN CLINICAL CONTEXTS

• The supervisor ideally will be clinically trained.
• If the supervisor is not trained or qualified in the clinical field being supervised, the supervisor will limit his/her supervision to non-clinical areas of mindfulness content and process.
• Clinical responsibility is to be held by a separate clinical supervisor in accordance with the arrangements set out by the supervisee’s employer or organisation, and this must be clearly detailed in the supervision contract. There may be occasions where the supervisor and clinical supervisor are the same person.

D. SPECIFIC COMPETENCIES FOR MINDFULNESS-BASED SUPERVISION

• Knowledge and understanding of ethical and professional practice.
• Knowledge and understanding of the programme being taught e.g. MBCT/MBSR
• Understanding of key issues in working with diversity.
• Ability to set up overall supervision contracts, identifying, adapting and taking into account:
• The nature of the work, context and specialist skills required (e.g. working with cancer, chronic pain, supervision of masters students)
• The organisational context (NHS, voluntary sector, private practice, education, workplace, etc.)
• The supervisee’s mindfulness practice and mindfulness teaching developmental needs
• Ability to develop and maintain a working alliance.
• Ability to create a safe and challenging learning environment, where the educative, supportive and ethical aspects of supervision are balanced as required.
• Ability to draw on and embody own mindfulness practice whilst employing an inquiry process to facilitate the supervisee’s learning.
• Ability to supervise and mentor the development of the supervisee’s personal mindfulness practice, relating this to the supervisee’s work and life.
• Ability to enable the supervisee to present appropriate supervision material and reflect upon it, using the supervision session effectively.
• The ability to support the supervisee in identifying both their strengths and learning needs, and to provide feedback that facilitates new learning.
• Ability to give accurate and constructive feedback and to challenge poor practice where necessary.
• Ability to conduct supervision in different formats and through different mediums: group, individual, peer, telephone, Skype and face-to-face.
• Ability to incorporate into the supervision direct observation and/or observation through recordings of the supervisee’s teaching.
• Ability to reflect on one’s own work as a supervisor and identify own training and supervisory needs.

December 2016

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These guiding principles have been developed to promote good practice in teaching mindfulness-based courses in the workplace. Mindfulness is defined as paying attention to what’s happening in the present moment in the mind, body and external environment, with an attitude of curiosity and kindness. It is typically cultivated by a range of simple meditation practices, which aim to bring a greater awareness of thinking, feeling, sensing and behavioural patterns, and to develop the capacity to manage these with greater skill and compassion.

Mindfulness courses are intended to teach mindfulness to people in the workplace in ways that can help people to flourish and achieve their potential in the face of the challenges of the workplace. These guidelines cover secular mindfulness-based programmes taught in workplace settings ideally over 8 weeks or of sufficient duration and intensity to support people in embedding their mindfulness practice.

These programmes are: informed by a clear rationale; teacher-led; have been developed to be scalable; draw on an evidence-based curriculum; typically at least eight sessions with preferably between 15-30 minutes daily formal home practice; incremental development and experiential learning; and, have a clear commitment to be evidence-based.

This Good Practice Guidance for teachers in the workplace covers training programs that are drawn from the courses listed in Appendix 1.

These guidelines should be read in conjunction with the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

A teacher of mindfulness-based approaches should have the following:

A. Mindfulness Based Teacher Training

1. Familiarity through personal participation with the mindfulness-based course curriculum that they will be learning to teach, with particular in-depth personal experience of all the core meditation practices of this mindfulness-based programme.
2. Completion of a supervised in-depth, mindfulness-based teacher training programme or apprenticeship pathway over a minimum duration of 12 months

B. Training or background required in addition to mindfulness-based teacher training

1. A professional qualification or experience in mental or physical health care, education or social care, training, coaching, human resources, group facilitation, occupational psychology or equivalent life experience recognized by the organization or context within which the teaching will take place.
2. Knowledge and experience of the populations that the mindfulness-based course will be delivered to, including experience of teaching, with groups and/or individuals, unless such knowledge and experience is provided to an adequate level by the mindfulness-based teacher training itself. An exception to this can be when teaching with the help of a colleague who knows well the population to whom the course will be delivered and has a relevant qualification. They would also need to have an understanding of mindfulness-based approaches.
3. There is a spectrum of mindfulness-based programmes offered in the workplace and teachers should have sufficient experience of the components of the programme and knowledge of the population they will be working with to be able to skilfully adapt the program.
4. Workplace mindfulness-based teachers need a knowledge of relevant underlying organisational culture and power dynamics likely to be present in the groups they are working with.
5. Whilst not working specifically with a clinical population, teachers in the workplace should have an understanding of how to recognise and manage mental and physical health conditions, and any referral processes available in the organisational context they are working.

C. Ongoing Good Practice Requirements

1. Commitment to develop a personal mindfulness practice commensurate with the teacher’s level of experience and the amount of teaching they undertake, through:

• Daily formal practice of at least 30 minutes per day
• Participation in annual residential mindfulness practice intensives

2. Engagement in processes which continue to develop mindfulness-based teaching practice:

• Ongoing contacts with other mindfulness practitioners and teachers, built and maintained as a means to share experiences and learn collaboratively

and

• Regular supervision or mentoring with an experienced mindfulness-based teacher including:

i. Opportunity to reflect on/inquire into personal process in relation to personal mindfulness practice and mindfulness-based teaching practice

ii. Receiving periodic feedback on teaching through video recordings, supervisor sitting in on teaching sessions or co-teaching with reciprocal feedback.

3. A commitment to ongoing development as a teacher through further training, keeping up to date with the evidence base, recording and reflecting on teaching sessions, participation in webs forums etc.

4. Adherence to the ethical code of conduct for mindfulness teachers in the workplace, in addition to the ethical framework appropriate to the teacher’s professional background and working context.

Appendix 1: List of Courses

The following are the list of courses that mindfulness-based programs in the workplace may be drawn from:

• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
• Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
• Breathworks
• Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) 

It is also recommended that teachers of lower intensity mindfulness-based courses such as the Finding Peace in a Frantic World course will work towards these guidelines

It is anticipated that new courses that adhere to training standards and are recommended by BAMBA will be added to this list.

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