Mindfulness coach Training (MCT)

The Mindfulness Coach Training model emerged from a deep need among public safety, emergency medicine, criminal justice, and other high-reliability professions.

• Coaches are trained to support foundational mindfulness skills training and to work with leaders across the organization to creatively integrate mindfulness into the culture, training, operations, and administration.

• Coaches can seamlessly fit into existing structures that support employee wellness, including Peer Support, Critical Incident Stress Management, Employee Assistance, and other programs emerging to respond to occupational stress and trauma injury.

• Coaches are the subject matter experts on the Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) of health, humanity, and optimal performance of the members of the organization.

• Coaches bridge the gap between academic research and operations, finding practical and tactical applications of attentional skills training, self-awareness, self-regulation, and compassion.

• Coaches are a go-to resource for members, and they support existing efforts of health and wellness and peer support programs.

This is the starting place for a high-reliability organization to build sustainable integration of mindfulness into its culture, leadership, and operations.

A 3-Part training program that develops mindfulness skills coaches for both human performance and resilience. Graduates will be capable of championing mindfulness as an approach to health and wellness and as a path toward performance optimization—at work, at home, and in the community. 

Coaches will integrate seamlessly into existing wellness efforts within public safety organizations. Coaches will be equipped to build mindfulness training models, collaborate with community-based certified trainers, and tailor resilience and performance training to meet the unique needs of their organization. Coaches will be ready to integrate mindfulness training sessions into the regular rhythms of their organization, ensuring skillful instruction and resourcing others so peers can continue their own mindfulness practice.

Participants in this training program must complete the following to earn certification as a Mindfulness Coach: 

1. 12-weeks of Distance Learning - study, mentorship, and personal practice.

2. Five Day Residential Intensive - experiential learning in best practices for guiding meditation, introduction to core coaching skills, mindful meditation and movement practice.

3. Practicum - Completion of a local training project to demonstrate coaching skills.

Coaches will be required to complete ongoing professional education to maintain certification.

The Coach program is not a certified mindfulness teacher training.

A Certified Mindfulness Trainer has gone through a formal training program and earned the designation as a certified trainer. These professionals are skilled at providing foundational and advanced mindfulness-based skills training to a variety of populations.

If an organization has two or more skillful and competent Mindfulness Coaches AND a skillful and partnership with a competent community-based certified mindfulness trainer, it may not be critical to have an internal certified trainer.

For the long-term sustainability of a mindfulness-influenced culture, having a certified trainer inside the organization can be very helpful.

The road to certification is a long one; plan on several years. Credible programs that are accredited through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association have rigorous pre-requisites.