Mindfulness Based Coping (MBC) Certification Course

​The objective of the Mindfulness Based Coping (MBC) certification course is to stimulate clinicians’ understanding of the mindful coping (MC) concept and how the MC-model that is based on this concept can strengthen adequate coping of various stress-related problems and mental health challenges. The course introduces theory from the mindfulness tradition and from cognitive psychology, as these are the two main elements on which MBC rests. The four main subjects in MBC, that is, mindfulness, stress management, emotion regulation and social competence, are the basis for the course. In addition, psychological perspectives and perspectives on pedagogy is presented as these are central for a dissemination of MBC of high quality.

The MBC certification course consists of shorter sessions following the IGP-model (individual, group, plenum sessions). This gives room for both individual reflections, followed by group discussions and Q&A in plenary sessions. Participants will be trained in mindfulness exercises and pedagogical techniques in group teaching. During the meetings, the participants are expected to take on the role as an instructor and receive productive feedback from the rest of the participants. It is expected that participants work with the manual, literature and exercises from MBC between meetings.

Kjersti Tharaldsen, Ph.D.

Kjersti B. Tharaldsen has a Ph.D. in Management from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stavanger, Norway. She currently holds a position as Associate professor at the Norwegian Center for Learning Environment and Behavioral Research in Education, University of Stavanger, Norway. Her main research areas are social and emotional learning, developing and evaluating coping interventions, and follow-up work after bullying. She is experienced within qualitative methodology and is amongst others a lecturer on PhD level in Mixed methods research. Her work experience is from the Specialist health care services where she worked as a researcher and supervisor. She developed the MBC certification course while working in the specialist health care services and has held the courses annually since 2007. Following this, she has developed the intervention ‘Live more, ruminate less!’, that is based on MBC but adapted to adolescents aiming to prevent the development of mental health problems.

Course Outcomes

• Understanding of mindfulness and how mindfulness can be operationalized in a clinical context
• Understanding of cognitive theory and its’ links with mindfulness as presented in the MC-model
• Ability to identify patients or users that may benefit from MBC and explore in what ways MBC best can be adapted to the clinicians’ target group
• Ability to implement MBC among the clinicians’ target group
• Considerations of ethical issues and different obstacles when introducing MBC to their target group

Program Flow

The MBC-Certification Course Content

• 27 hours live sessions on Zoom
• Work tasks between meetings and short presentations from participants’ work between meetings

Module 1

Day 1 (6 hrs.): Background for the MBC-course, the mindful coping model, operationalizing mindfulness, and discussion on target groups.

Day 2 (6 hrs.): Cognitive theory, pedagogical perspectives, mindfulness in MBC, stress theory, coping theory and the art of dissemination

Tasks for independent study before module 2: Reading of literature and preparing a brief presentation of reflections on how to work with one of the four MBC-subjects in own target group

Module 2

Day 1 (6 hrs.): Coping with stress in MBC, central theories on emotions, how emotion can be adjusted, presentation from the participants

Day 2 (6 hrs.):Emotion regulation in MBC, why relations are crucial, the joy and the pain of relationships, presentation from the participants

Tasks for independent study before module 3: Reading of literature and preparing a brief presentation of reflections on how to work with one of the four MBC-subjects in own target group

Module 3

Day 1 (3 hrs.): Social skills in MBC, presentation from the participants, and summing up