Integrative Mindfulness Based Practice Training Program
22 August to 28 November 2023
Certification in Mindfulness Informed Therapy
The IMBPT program is a dual certification program. Mindfulness Informed Therapy is a way to integrate mindfulness in in-person session.
Certification in Mindfulness Based Symptom Management
This dual certification program allows for training in leading people in the 8-week Mindfulness Based Symptom Management
Steps to certification
Step 1: Certified Mindfulness Informed Therapy
This is a four months training program with five modules. Each module is a three day session and supervision in between modules to integrate the modules’ training.
-Each module will have reading and reflections to complete towards certification.
-A course with the Canadian Psychological Association can be completed towards international certification (optional/separate fee to be made to CPA)
Participants can graduate after step 1 and use it as a stand alone credentialed to practice Mindfulness Informed Therapy.
NOTE: MBSM (5-day intensive or 8-week Program needs to be completed during or before starting step 1)
Step 2: MBSM Qualified Teacher
After Module 2 of step 1, participants are eligible to begin step 2. Participants can also wait till the end of all modules of step 1 to begin this process. Certification for this step will be given only after step 1 and step 2 are complete.
Step 2 entails (a) that the participant create and lead five mindfulness circle sessions in a period of two to three months. and (b) complete one co-teaching or mentored session with an MBSM trained teacher at Pause for Perspective. This can be an individual session or a group session through Pause for Perspective.
-A reflection paper will be submitted towards certification at the end of the MBSM co-teaching/mentored session.
Step 3: MBSM Certified Teacher
The pathway to becoming a certified teacher of the MBSM program is to lead three MBSM group sessions under the mentoring of the MBSM mentor/supervisor at Pause for Perspective.
The participant will bring together a group (Free 8 week for marginalised spaces or paid program). The mentoring will either be free or charged depending on the spaces where the participants lead the MBSM will be led.
Fee for supervision will be discussed between MBSM teacher and participant.
Training Modules
Module 1: Mindfulness Oriented Psychotherapy: Presence
Module 2: Ethics and Mindfulness Informed Psychotherapy
Module 3: Retreat
Module 4: Mindfulness Informed Psychotherapy
Module 5: Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy for Families & Groups (Children, Couples, and Groups)
Graduation Presentation
Our Guest Faculty
Pooja Gupta
Pooja is a counseling psychologist by profession, I love having conversations – about hopes, holding pain together, about feelings and thoughts, and sometimes about having fun. Transparency, collaboration, accountability and compassion are my therapist super powers. My work is influenced by mindfulness, narrative practices, intersectionality and existential psychotherapy.
Hiranya A. Godavarthy
Hiranya is a counsellor and psychotherapist who uses an eclectic approach, employing tools from a range of modalites including Person Centered Therapy, Mindfulness Based Psychotherapy, Solution Focused practices, Narrative practices, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and also other holistic, complementary and alternative tools.
She focuses on moving toward goals while also identifying and celebrating individual strengths, bringing creativity and expression to one’s unique story, and compassionately honouring the different parts of an individual self. She understands the challenges of finding your place in a competitive, changing and unpredictable world. Having a multidisciplinary academic background and an interest in Anthropology gives her a passion for understanding, being sensitive to, and respecting culture, choices and context.
She is also passionate about learning and broadening her viewpoint, enjoys teaching and training, and encourages reflection, mindful insight, and personal awareness.
She is qualified for Assistant Professorship in the UGC-National Eligibility Test for Assistant Professor in the subject Psychology, conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). She was recognised during Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychological Counseling Skills, and has a Master of Arts in Psychology (Clinical).
She is a poet, an artist, and a volunteer for community projects.
Pooja Agarwal
Pooja is a therapist, supervisor and teacher in Private Practice. She sees therapy as a community practice to resist systemic problems and nurture space for navigating life with humor, gentleness and presence. Her therapy practice is informed by Mindfulness based psychotherapy and Narrative practices.
She graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Psychology Honors from Christ University and in 2017 with a Post Graduate diploma in Psychological Counseling skills from St. Francis College. Additionally she holds certifications in Mindfulness based psychotherapy, Narrative practices and Queer affirmative practice.
In her 6 years of work, beyond seeing clients in individual therapy, she has also facilitated group therapy spaces, created training programs and community projects. She is also a supervisor and supports therapists in their own journey through work in individual and group supervision spaces.
Her work is rooted in trauma-informed, anti-oppressive and social justice principles. She believes deeply in the power of listening to the body as a way to reconnect with one’s values and dreams of gentler, embodied and slower ways of life.
When not working, she enjoys reading, staring at trees, napping and wondering what to make for dinner.
Swetha Turlapati
Dr. Swetha Turlapati,
Psychotherapist by experiential learning.
The fundamentals
Masters of Counseling Psychology and a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm D) with a postgraduate degree. Trained and certified in mindfulness informed practices.
I believe that collaboration and presence are at the core of a therapeutic relationship. I consider it to be an essential part of the healing journey. When stories about culture and systemic oppression become present in my sessions, I lean toward sensitivity and curiosity.
Mindfulness and embodied practices has given more language to my work and has helped me stay intentional and intact with my approach towards people both professional and personal. It also allows me to notice emotions in the body with a here and now stance which inturn helps actions informed from the present.
I wake up to “The world “within” us is our compass; we might want to bring awareness to it as we continue navigating.”
Ruhi Sameena
From all of her learnings what really resonates with her deeply is Mindfulness Based Approach and Narrative Ideas and Practice. Her stance as therapist is to hold a safe space with curiosity and open kindness with an intention to pay attention to the ways the person is already dealing with their experiences’ and collaborative looking at what is important for the person.
As a therapist she believes that therapy is a collaborative work between the person and a therapist. She keenly looks into peoples know-how’s and empowers them to cultivate an openness towards their experience. She offers one-on-one individual as well as online sessions to the Adolescents, Young Adults, Adults, and Couples–people who are experiencing Mental health concerns (ie., Anxiety, depression, self-harm ideation, Personality Disorders, Identity crises to name some), General life issues (ie., day-to-day stressors, relationships concern, career related motivation, academics’ related concerns, Parenting concerns) and Pre and Post marital related concerns.
Apart from seeing clients she leads workshops on Mindfulness and Intentional living in-house and at different spaces. She leads the Slow Down Saturday and Kintsugi Circles at pause for perspective which are community workshops.
She works with Construction Specialties (MNC) as their psychologist and runs mini mindfulness sessions for the employees there. She also engages with MNCs, Schools and NGO (like Shaheen Women’s resource and welfare association) for Mindfulness and Mental Health
common questions
Given the growing interest among psychotherapists of all theoretical orientations, this 5month long program will explore the integration of mindfulness in psychotherapy and train in becoming an 8 Week Mindfulness Based Symptom Management teacher.
- You will learn to conceptualize and intervene in ways that ensure you are culturally sensitive and ethically respectful
- You will learn to capture the nuances of integrating diagnostic perspectives while keeping the person coming to see you at the center, as someone with agency
- You will learn ways of questioning, interviewing, offering directives, and suggestions based on learning more about the needs of the person
- You will be able to fine tune your presence to ensure that you are being the therapist the person, your client, needs you to be
- You will learn several techniques and interventions that are from the different schools of approaches that ground with Mindfulness practices
- You will incorporate practices that will help you grow multi-fold in your personal life as well as professional life
- You will be able to work with a wide population such as children, families, spouses, women, and LGBTQIA.
- You will learn to work with process-based interventions that help you analyze your own work as an individual and therapist.
- You will learn to incorporate the modalities learnt across cultures and settings
There are 5 modules in all.
Each module has an immersive component, where participant will go into becoming aware of themselves, people they consult with and the space in between.
Each module is three days long. Between each module there is short gap and supervision and teaching by a guest faculty occurs to incorporate the teachings from the modules.
One can aim to finish the program with step 1 and 2 within 9 months and choose to finish step 3 at your own pace.
The IMBPT program is currently delivered hybrid. Module 3 is retreat and you will be completed two day silent retreat with Pause for Perspective at dates when we run it or chose a retreat center like the Deer Park at Bir, in case you would like to do an inperson retreat outside of Pause.
Write to aarathi.selvan@gmail.com to set up an appointment to meet and talk about the program, its requirements and other necessary details to see if you are a good fit for the program. You can also call 8106864001 to make an appointment with Aarathi for an interview and Q&A about the program.
- The program cost is Rs: 40,000/-(Instalments available)
- A separate fee of CAD 199/- to the Canadian Psychological Association to complete a course on Advanced Skills in Mindfulness-based Interventions. (This is optional incase you want to complete the international MBSM teacher certification that is developed by Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic, Canada)
- Finally there will be a low cost mentoring fee to complete step 3 (in case you will be charging the participants of the group you create).
The primary program lead: Aarathi Selvan
Guest Faculty is invited.
Mentor and MBSM Co-Developer: Lynette Monteiro
Yes attendance in all 5 modules is mandatory. If you need accomodations please reach out to the teaching team. Step 2 and 3 are completed in the time frames mentioned.
Attendance and completion of submissions of reading assignments and reflection papers are mandatory parts to the certification process.
We are at Pauses for Perspective, Hyderabad.