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Centre teaching staff

Rebecca Crane

MA, DipCOT, MBACP (accred), UKRCP

Rebecca directed the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice through its first six years and is now working as a Research Fellow on the Wellcome funded research on MBCT for depression and sucidality conducted in collaboration with Oxford University. Prior to this she worked for 15 years in the mental health field as an Occupational Therapist and also in this time became qualified as a counsellor and gained accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. She has had a personal interest in meditation for over 20 years and her personal practice is an integral part of her life. She has received training in the use of mindfulness-based approaches through working with Mark Williams and colleagues during the early development of MBCT teaching at Bangor University; through attending the 10-week internship programme at the Centre for Mindfulness in Massachusetts, America and through attending a number of intensive teacher development trainings with MBSR instructors from the States. She engages in a monthly supervision processes with an experienced mindfulness-based teacher and with peers. She has written Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy: The CBT Distinctive Features Series; Routledge, 2008. Rebecca lives in the North Wales area with her husband and three young children.

Becca  r.crane@bangor.ac.uk

Trish Bartley

Meditation has been central to my life since 1990 – but I have worked with others in cultivating physical awareness for over 25 years. This is confirmation of the old adage that we teach what we most need to learn! As a community developer in the UK, development worker in rural South Africa and organisational developer in Wales, I work to facilitate the development of others – and learn much about myself in the process. I’ve written a book about this that is called ‘Holding Up The Sky; Love Power and Learning in the Development of a Community’. It was published in March 2004. I was first introduced to MBSR when I had cancer in 1999. I now run 3 MBCT courses a year for cancer patients in the oncology unit at Bangor hospital. I started teaching for the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice in 2002 and developed a distance learning course for the Centre later that year. I am introducing mindfulness to HIV/AIDS workers in South Africa in 2005 – an aspiration dear to my heart.

Trish trish@trishbartley.co.uk

 

David Elias (currently on sabbatical)

I work as a therapist and counsellor both in private practice and in the NHS in primary care. My orientation is generally humanistic having trained in TA and the Person-Centred Approach as well as being influenced by mindfulness. I have been trained as a MBSR/MBCT teacher, receiving training with staff from the Centres for Mindfulness in the USA and North Wales. I teach mindfulness in various group settings. I also teach the approach one-to-one in my therapist/counsellor settings, including in the NHS. I have had a daily personal meditation practice for 15 years and regularly attend retreats at a centre with a Buddhist orientation. My first career was in wildlife conservation and I am deeply committed to environmental issues including the use of mindfulness to raise awareness about the state of our planet. I also have a particular interest in the overlap and integration of therapy and mindfulness. All of these activities are integrated by my personal commitment 'see more clearly and act more kindly' throughout my life.

David elias.cefnprys@btinternet.com

Annee Griffiths

I have been practising meditation since 1975 when I studied in India and Japan for three years practising mainly Vipassana and Zen meditation. I teach mindfulness-based courses for the Centre and have also taught clients in a mental health setting, on the oncology ward, and to groups in the wider community. I am currently teaching on the Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Approaches’ Foundation course.  I have run several workshops Working with Loving Kindness, Difficult Emotions, and Mindfulness and Creative Writing. 

My professional background was previously in social work and further education where I have considerable experience in working and teaching with disadvantaged groups with low self-esteem. I have been trained by the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice and have attended a number of intensive teacher development trainings run by teachers from the Center for Mindfulness, Massachusetts. 

I have completed my MA in Mindfulness Approaches. My dissertation was a study on the long-term effects of MBSR/MBCT undertaken with graduates of the eight week course held in the North Wales area for the last nine years.  The research also included an investigation into the on-going support that people needed to continue to practise.

I live in Anglesey, North Wales with my husband and two grown up sons.  We also delight in three very young grandchildren and two daughters.

Annee annee@menaibridge.net

Judith Soulsby

I have practised mindfulness meditation over the last 35 years or so, receiving teaching mainly in the Theravadin Buddhist tradition, and attending regular 5 and 10 day retreats. I have been trained as an MBCT teacher within the Centre for Mindfulness in North Wales, and have also attended MBSR trainings given in North Wales and the USA by teachers from the Massachusetts CFM.  I presently work for the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice as Director of Master’s Programmes, with an overall responsibility for running our two part-time Master’s programmes.  I am also a freelance mindfulness teacher with the Centre, teaching the 8-week course of MBCT for stress reduction locally, and training professionals in mindfulness teaching on both our CPD and Master’s courses.  I enjoy learning more about working with mindfulness therapeutically (having used it informally in my previous social work and then psychotherapy practice). I find that teaching mindfulness is one of the best ways to develop my own life, work and practice open-heartedly, and consider myself to be wonderfully fortunate to earn my living in this way.

Judith j.soulsby@bangor.ac.uk

 

Eluned Gold

B.A. (Hons), RMN, PGCE

I work as a psychotherapist with disturbed children and their carers. I also have a private therapy practice where I work primarily with adults. My interest in mental health began 30 years ago when I trained as a psychiatric nurse. Over the years I have worked in many health, education and community settings, all deeply involved with the support and promotion of personal development (including my own!).Meditation has been a part of my life for 20 years. I have been trained in MBSR/ MBCT by teachers from the centres for Mindfulness in the USA and North Wales. I teach mindfulness in various group settings as well as working with individuals. I have found that bringing mindfulness into my life and work often has a profound effect on the quality of contact I make with others and myself.  I have a particular interest in the ways in which Mindfulness can support us as parents and carers.

Eluned elunedg@googlemail.com

Cindy Cooper BA(hons)

For the last 35 years I have been a counsellor and therapist working with a variety of client groups, but especially with individuals, families and groups affected by drug and alcohol abuse and eating disorders.  Throughout this time and running parallel with my counselling work has been my deep interest in and personal commitment to meditation practice and Tibetan Buddhism.  For me mindfulness-based approaches supply a wonderful bridge between my therapy and Buddhist practice backgrounds, allowing me to draw upon both to offer people a new way to approach difficulties in their lives – and that includes me.  I use mindfulness myself in working with my own chronic pain and illness, not to mention the usual daily difficulties. I have been trained in MBSR/MBCT by the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor, but am delighted to say that my learning continues with every class I teach. I currently offer mindfulness courses to individuals and groups in central London, and find that teaching mindfulness deepens my own heart and understanding in ways that are profoundly amazing to me.

Cindy cindy@mindfulness-london.org.uk

Jody Mardula

M.Ed,  CTA, PTSTA,  UKCP Reg Psych. MBACP(Snr.Acc.Cllr)

Meditation and Mindfulness practice has increasingly become an important and central part of my life, and I feel privileged to also be teaching it to others.  I have trained as an MBSR/MBCT teacher with staff from the Centres for mindfulness in the USA and North Wales. I have worked as a humanistic therapist and groupworker for over 20 years, and currently have a private psychotherapy and supervision practise in North Wales.  I also deliver training in psychotherapy and related topics, including an “Appetite Paths” model for working with self injury and addictions drawn from my work in this area.  In this model, and in all my work, I integrate mindfulness, and am passionate about the deep effects of these practices on my clients and on myself.

Jody

www.mountaintherapy.org.uk

Sarah Silverton

I have been practising mindfulness meditation for more than 13 years( and I had a yoga practice before then). I became involved in the MBCT programme during the research carried out by Mark Williams, John Teasdale and Zindel Segal in the 1990s. Mark Williams also provided my training as I was initially developing my skills to teach the 8 week MBCT course.

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to spend 9 weeks at the Center For Mindfulness in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1999, taking part in their intern programme. Since then I have attended many other teacher development trainings in the UK led by the experienced mindfulness teachers both from the States and Great Britain.

I am actively involved with the North Wales area group of mindfulness teachers and am a CFMR&P teacher. This has involved a variety of teaching, for example the 2 Day Course, modules of the Masters programme, Centre teacher development support, the Distance Learning programme and attending the peer supervision groups.

My professional background is in occupational therapy. I worked for 15 years in mental health settings (in-patient and day hospital) and for 10 years in a community mental health team. I then worked in a Social Service setting with clients with physical disability for 6 years. I have a Masters in counselling and taught counselling to Masters level for 8 years. I'm currently also teaching at Bangor University on the Occupational Therapy 2 year Accelerated course for post-graduates.

I am due to become one of the teachers on a research project that Mark Williams has been funded to carry out from 2008. This will involve teaching people with chronic depression who also have had suicidal ideation, exploring further the effectiveness of the MBCT programme with this client group.
I live in North Wales with my husband and daughter.

Sarah s.silverton@bangor.ac.uk

Vanessa Hope

Yoga and meditation have been part of my life for nearly 30 years and I was drawn to this work because I found these practices profoundly healing.  I have a keen interest in mind/body medicine and practised as a Homeopath for 18 years. I have also lectured at several Homeopathy colleges and been a supervisor for both students and practitioners.  I now work full-time as a Mindfulness Instructor.  Since 2001, I have been running Mindfulness courses for a wide range of groups including 60+, low-income groups, social workers, carers, mental health groups and clinical professionals.  My training has been with teachers from both The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice in Bangor and from the Center for Mindfulness in Massachusetts.  I teach on the MSc in Mindfulness-Based Approaches and run Professional Training Programmes.  I have ongoing supervision for my work.  I live and work in Hertfordshire and have two grown-up daughters and a grandson.

 

Vanessa – vhope@btinternet.com

01707 644309

Michael Chaskalson

I come to mindfulness from a Buddhist background, having been a member of the Western Buddhist Order since 1977. Under the name Kulananda, I’ve written several books on Buddhist themes and have taught at Buddhist centres in the UK, Ireland and elsewhere. More recently I gained an MA in Mindfulness-Based Approaches and now teach a module on Buddhist Psychology as part of the Centre’s MA programme. I participate as a trainer in various Centre courses and also run courses privately. Passionate about bringing mindfulness into the world of work, I train business coaches, senior executives and partners in the professional services sector in these revolutionary skills as well as working occasionally for the NHS. My wife and I live in Cambridge.

Michael michael@mbsr.co.uk

www.mbsr.co.uk