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Mindfulness for Therapists who Hate It

CE Hours 2

About this course

This continuing education course provides mental health professionals with accessible, experiential training in mindfulness-based interventions designed specifically for clients who have resisted traditional mindfulness practices. Clinicians will learn to present mindfulness using a multi-modal "buffet" approach that addresses common barriers including misconceptions about relaxation, expectations of a "clear mind," and difficulty sustaining practice. The course covers the foundational distinction between mindfulness and meditation, the neuroscience of default mode network activation, and practical applications across multiple domains including breath awareness, mindful eating, body-based practices, cognitive defusion, and emotional exposure. Through this experiential learning approach, mental health professionals experience psychoeducation "as if they are the client," enabling them to better introduce mindfulness to resistant or skeptical clients and select appropriate modalities based on individual preferences. Participants will gain competence in reframing common mindfulness "failures" as normal experiences and teaching clients the core principle that noticing and refocusing attention is the practice itself.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain mindfulness using the attention-plus-attitude conceptual framework as distinct from relaxation or thought suppression.
  • Explain why mind wandering during mindfulness practice is neurobiologically normal and represents successful attentional training rather than practice failure.
  • Describe multimodal approaches to mindfulness practice including breath-focused meditation, somatic awareness exercises, and mindful eating interventions.

Learning Levels

  • Beginner

Target Audience

This course is designed for licensed mental health professionals (psychologists, counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists) who want to introduce mindfulness-based interventions to clients who have been resistant, skeptical, or unsuccessful with traditional meditation practices, as well as clinicians who personally struggle to maintain their own mindfulness practice for self-care and burnout prevention. The course is particularly valuable for therapists incorporating mindfulness into CBT, DBT, ACT, or other evidence-based treatments and seeking practical, accessible ways to teach mindfulness skills to reluctant clients while also discovering sustainable approaches for their own well-being.

Course Instructor(s)

  • Elise Gibbs, PsyD, ABPP

    Dr. Elise Gibbs (she/her/hers) is a licensed psychologist who is board certified in clinical psychology and specializes in evidence-based treatment for adults with anxiety, OCD, and eating disorders. She provides individual therapy using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Enhanced CBT for Eating Disorders (CBT-E). Dr. Gibbs is a certified ERP therapist through UPenn's Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety. Dr. Gibbs graduated with Honors and Distinction in Psychology from Stanford University and earned her doctorate from the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, where she later served as Clinical Associate Professor before establishing her private practice, Gibbs Psychological Services. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Gibbs serves on the California Psychological Association's Ethics Committee and as a Board Examiner for the American Board of Clinical Psychology.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

References

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  • Hong, W., Liu, R. D., Ding, Y., Fu, X., Zhen, R., & Sheng, X. (2021). Social media exposure and college students' mental health during the outbreak of CoViD-19: the mediating role of rumination and the moderating role of mindfulness. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 24(4), 282-287. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0387
  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (2023). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. Hachette UK.
  • Kee, Y. H., & Liu, Y. T. (2011). Effects of dispositional mindfulness on the self-controlled learning of a novel motor task. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 468-471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.01.009
  • Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932-932. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439
  • Kristeller, J. L., & Epel, E. (2014). Mindful eating and mindless eating: The science and the practice. The Wiley Blackwell handbook of mindfulness, 913-933. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118294895.ch47
  • Lodge, J. M., & Harrison, W. J. (2019). The role of attention in learning in the digital age. The Yale journal of biology and medicine, 92(1), 21. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6430174/
  • Luberto, C. M., Hall, D. L., Park, E. R., Haramati, A., & Cotton, S. (2020). A perspective on the similarities and differences between mindfulness and relaxation. Global advances in health and medicine, 9, 2164956120905597. https://doi.org/10.1177/2164956120905597
  • Lumma, A. L., Kok, B. E., & Singer, T. (2015). Is meditation always relaxing? Investigating heart rate, heart rate variability, experienced effort and likeability during training of three types of meditation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 97(1), 38-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.04.017
  • Marcks, B. A., & Woods, D. W. (2005). A comparison of thought suppression to an acceptance-based technique in the management of personal intrusive thoughts: A controlled evaluation. Behaviour research and therapy, 43(4), 433-445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2004.03.005
  • Mason, M. F., Norton, M. I., Van Horn, J. D., Wegner, D. M., Grafton, S. T., & Macrae, C. N. (2007). Wandering minds: the default network and stimulus-independent thought. science, 315(5810), 393-395. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1131295
  • Melbourne Academic Mindfulness Interest Group. (2006). Mindfulness-based psychotherapies: a review of conceptual foundations, empirical evidence and practical considerations. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 40(4), 285-294. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1440-1614.2006.01794.x
  • Moore, A., & Malinowski, P. (2009). Meditation, mindfulness and cognitive flexibility. Consciousness and cognition, 18(1), 176-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2008.12.008
  • Olendzki, A. (2009). Mindfulness and meditation. In Clinical handbook of mindfulness (pp. 37-44). New York, NY: Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_3
  • Regan, T., Harris, B., Van Loon, M., Nanavaty, N., Schueler, J., Engler, S., & Fields, S. A. (2020). Does mindfulness reduce the effects of risk factors for problematic smartphone use? Comparing frequency of use versus self-reported addiction. Addictive behaviors, 108, 106435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106435
  • Raugh, I. M., Berglund, A. M., & Strauss, G. P. (2025). Implementation of mindfulness-based emotion regulation strategies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Affective Science, 6(1), 171-200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-024-00281-x
  • Rosen, L. D., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2013). Facebook and texting made me do it: Media-induced task-switching while studying. Computers in human behavior, 29(3), 948-958. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.001
  • Sass, S. M., Berenbaum, H., & Abrams, E. M. (2013). Discomfort with emotion moderates distress reduction in a brief mindfulness intervention. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 7(4), 24. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100962
  • Segal, Z., Williams, M., & Teasdale, J. (2018). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression (2nd ed.). Guilford Publications.
  • Shapiro, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Astin, J. A., & Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal of clinical psychology, 62(3), 373-386. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20237
  • Siegel, R. D., Germer, C. K., & Olendzki, A. (2009). Mindfulness: What is it? Where did it come from?. In Clinical handbook of mindfulness (pp. 17-35). New York, NY: Springer New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09593-6_2
  • Sriwilai, K., & Charoensukmongkol, P. (2016). Face it, don't Facebook it: impacts of social media addiction on mindfulness, coping strategies and the consequence on emotional exhaustion. Stress and Health, 32(4), 427-434. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2637
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CE Process Info

Content

  • Beginning
    7 parts
    • Introduction
    • Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
    • Course Overview
    • Mindfulness 101
    • The Science of Mindfulness
    • Week 1 Action Plan
    • Week 1 Action Plan Log
  • Breathing
    4 parts
    • Breathing
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #1
    • Brief Pause
    • Week 2 Action Plan Log
  • Seeing & Hearing
    6 parts
    • Seeing
    • Seeing Meditation
    • Hearing Meditation
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #2
    • Week 3 Action Plan
    • Week 3 Action Plan Log
  • Eating
    4 parts
    • Eating
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #3
    • Week 4 Action Plan
    • Week 4 Action Plan Log
  • Thinking
    5 parts
    • Thinking
    • Thinking - Audio Meditation
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #4
    • Week 5 Action Plan
    • Week 5 Action Plan Log
  • Moving
    6 parts
    • Walking
    • Walking Meditation
    • Stretching
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #5
    • Week 6 Action Plan
    • Week 6 Action Plan Log
  • Enjoying
    4 parts
    • Enjoying
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #6
    • Week 7 Action Plan
    • Week 7 Action Plan Log
  • Feeling & Dealing
    5 parts
    • Feeling & Dealing
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #7
    • Week 8 Action Plan
    • Feeling & Dealing Audio Meditation
    • Week 8 Action Plan Log
  • Practicing
    4 parts
    • Ways to Keep Practicing
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #8
    • Week 9 Action Plan
    • Week 9 Action Plan Log
  • Closing
    3 parts
    • Course Review
    • Mindful Attention Awareness Scale
    • Why You Might Hate Mindfulness #9
  • Joint Accreditation

    Joint Accreditation (JA)

    In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

  • American Psychological Association (APA)

    Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYSEDSW)

    CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.

  • New York Education Department Board of Creative Arts Therapy (NYSEDCAT)

    CE Learning Systems (d/b/a CE-credit.com), is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists. #CAT-0008

  • New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSEDLMHC)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

  • New York Education Department Board for Licensed Psychoanalysts (NYSEDLP)

    CE Learning Systems, LLC dba CE-credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychoanalysts #P-0031.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology (NYSEDPSY)

    CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0016.

  • New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy (NYSEDMFT)

    CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.

Mindfulness for Therapists who Hate It
You Have Completed This course
$99
You are enrolled
  • CE Hours
    2
  • Type
    Self-Paced
  • Publication Date
    Jan 9th, 2026

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