National conference on mindfulness for children

Beginning February 4, 2012, the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness will host a national conference for teachers, parents, therapists, and school administrators called Bridging the Hearts & Minds of Youth. The two-day conference is designed to familiarize and train attendees with the ways in which mindfulness is being taught to children and teens in a variety of settings. The goal is to teach mindfulness as a tool to positively impact children's psychological, physical and social well-being.

"Mindfulness is an effective means of contending with stress, pain and emotional distress in all areas of life," said Steven D. Hickman, PsyD, and director of the UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness. "With overlapping issues of teen suicide, childhood obesity, rampant ADHD and bullying, this is a crucial time to cultivate mindfulness in our young people so they can access their own inner resources for awareness and self-control."

More than 15 workshops and breakout sessions during the two-day conference will focus on topics such as integrating mindfulness into the classroom, mindfulness and social media, mindful parenting practice and psychotherapy, proven practices for teaching teens skills for peace and happiness, and an introduction to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for children.

"Around the globe, mindfulness is being taught to children in settings as varied as the streets of urban America to the classrooms of Israel, and everywhere in between," said Hickman. "We are bringing these pioneers to San Diego to present their work and to learn from them as thought leaders in the fields of neuroscience, education and research."

The Bridging the Hearts & Minds Youth Conference will take place at the Catamaran Hotel in San Diego. Physician participants are eligible to receive 14.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. The course also meets the qualifications for 14.75 hours of continuing education credit for MFTs and/or LCSWs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and the same number of credits for psychologists.

Source UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness