In-Depth Training Program for FFT Teams

  • Enhance Emotion Regulation Capacities

    High conflict, emotionally reactive families are some of the most difficult to treat. Mindfulness skills can help families regulate their physiological, behavioral, and cognitive expressions of emotion in stressful situations.

  • Foster Attuned Communication

    "Underneath the anger is sadness." FFT reframes often emphasize misinterpretations of internal states to motivate change in families. Mindfulness-based communication skills address the heart of the problem, going beyond traditional CBT methods to foster curiosity, empathy, and deep sharing of internal experiences.

  • Improve Distress Tolerance

    Avoidance of negative emotional states underlies most poor behavioral choices. Mindfulness practices such as urge surfing enable family members to attend to and accept internal distress, creating opportunity for positive behavioral responses.

Program Components

  • Comprehensive step-by-step videos train team members to incorporate mindfulness methods into FFT Behavior Change sessions.

  • Over 30 instructional videos are divided into 7 core training modules for systematic skill building. Downloadable handouts for in-session use are also included. The full curriculum is detailed below

  • Twelve on-line team consultation session support skill mastery and clinician confidence. Additional consultations are available as desired.

  • A video library of in-session clinical examples provide concrete demonstration of FFT integration methods.

PREREQUISITE REQUIREMENT:

Completion of our Mindfulness At Work Course or other personal training in mindfulness.

This "Mindfulness for your FFT Clients" course is an advanced training program for FFT teams who have adopted mindfulness practices to support their own health and wellbeing and wish to learn FFT integration methods. It is vital that clinicians seeking to bring mindfulness practices to their clients have personal experience with the methods. We offer the Mindfulness at Work course in both an individual and team-based format. Other prior personal experience with a mindfulness practice may also meet this prerequisite.
Mindfulness At Work

Course Curriculum

  • 1
    Welcome and Introduction
    • Welcome and Introduction
  • 2
    Series 1: Let's get started with some basic concepts and techniques
    • Concept 1: Integrating Mindfulness into FFT - an Overview
    • Concept 2: What's the difference between CBT & Mindfulness?
    • Concept 3: How do I integrate FFT relational functions when I'm teaching mindfulness to families?
    • Technique 1: What reasons can I offer families why mindfulness will benefit them?
    • Technique 2: So where do I start?: Introducing mindfulness through attention to "Inner World vs Outer World"
    • Technique 3: Let's have some fun and build mindfulness skills too: Introducing the "Keep a Straight Face Contest"
    • Handout 1: Integrating Mindfulness into family therapy - Published Paper (Reference Concept Video 1)
    • Handout 2: CBT Triangle (Reference Concept 2 Video)
    • Handout 3: Mindful Triangle (Reference Concept 2 Video)
    • Handout 4: Inner and Outer Words (Reference Technique Video 2)
  • 3
    Series 2: Emotion Regulation and the Physiology of Emotion
    • Concept 1: What are at the 3 aspects of emotion?
    • Concept 2: What's important to know about how the brain processes emotion?
    • Concept 3: How does the nervous system contribute to emotion?
    • Technique 1: How do I explain the physiology of emotion to families?
    • Technique 2: How do I teach mindful breathing to families?
    • Handout 1: What is Emotion? (Reference Concept Video 1)
    • Handout 2 : Tri-brain image (Reference Concept Video 2)
    • Handout 3: Autonomic Nervous System (Ref. Concept Video 3)
    • Handout 4: Gas & Brake Pedal (Reference Concept Video 3
    • Handout 5: Zoo Tiger Fight Video (Reference Technique Video 1)
  • 4
    Series 3: Emotion Regulation and Expressing Emotion through the Body
    • Concept 1: What's important for families to know about expressing emotion through the body?
    • Technique 1: How do I teach family members to attend to emotion in the body?
    • Technique 2: How can awareness of emotion in the body enhance attuned communication in families?
    • Handout 1: Emotion Faces Image (Reference Technique Videos 1&2)
  • 5
    Series 4: Emotion Regulation and The Conscious/Cognitive Experience of Emotion
    • Concept 1: How does mindfulness aid the conscious experience of emotion?
    • Technique 1: How expanding our emotional vocabulary helps regulate and communicate emotional states.
    • Technique 2: Mindfulness and Thoughts; Pain vs. Suffering and the metaphor of the 2 arrows.
    • Enhancing Positive Emotions: Technique 1- Gratitude
    • Enhancing Positive Emotions: Technique 2 - Teaching Self Compassion
    • Handout 1: Sample -Developing Emotional Vocabulary (Reference Technique Video 1)
    • Handout 2: Sample Two-Arrows Worksheet (Reference Technique Video 2)
    • Handout 3: Universal Self- Compassion (Reference Positive Emotions Technique Video 2)
  • 6
    Series 5: Fostering Attuned Communication: Informal and Formal Practices
    • Technique 1: How do I help families focus on attuned communication?
    • Technique 2: Formal Communication Practices: Internal Awareness
    • Technique 3: Formal Communication Practices: Teaching the STOP Practice
    • Technique 4: Formal Communication Practices: Guiding Dialogue on Difficult Conversations
    • Handout 1: Observing Internal Experiences (Reference Technique Video 2)
    • Handout 2: Stop Practice (Reference Technique Video 3)
  • 7
    Series 6: Experiential Avoidance and Distress Tolerance
    • Concept 1: What happens when we avoid uncomfortable experiences?
    • Technique 1: Guided Meditation: Working with uncomfortable experiences.
    • Technique 2: Developing Distress Tolerance with the Ice Cube Challenge
    • Technique 3: Urge Surfing - A Distress Tolerance Technique for Coping with Urges and Cravings.
    • Downloadable guided meditation (10 minutes) - Working with uncomfortable experiences.
  • 8
    Series 7: Putting It All Together - The Big Picture, Generalization, Program Summary, and Working with Resistance.
    • The Big Picture and Generalization
    • Program Summary
    • Working With Resistance
    • Discussion Topics to Support the Generalization of Mindfulness Practices
  • 9
    CLINICAL EXAMPLES
    • In depth example of a single family over 5 sessions. Includes Physiology of Emotion, the Mindful Triangle, Attuned Communication, and Working with Resistance (70 minutes)
    • Emotional expression in the body and its impact on family relationships (17 minutes - Ref. Series 3)
    • Using Attuned Communication to Support Relapse Prevention for a Suicide Attempt (33 minutes - Ref. Series 5)
    • Using 7-11 Breathing to Reduce Physiological Distress Associated with Negative Emotional States (11 minutes - Ref. Series 2, 5, & 6).
    • Using Urge Surfing to Enhance Distress Tolerance (9 minutes - Ref. Series 6)

FFT Team Price

The price includes 12 months of unlimited access to all training materials and 12 on-line team consultation sessions.

Enhance Treatment Outcomes

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