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Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCBT) and Stress Reduction (MBSR) in Oakland

Matthew Lindgren offers mindfulness based cognitive behavioral therapy (MBCBT) and mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) to adults and teens in Oakland.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

  • Do you have problems with depression, anger, or anxiety that seem to "take over"?

  • Do you have a difficult time accepting yourself, or do you find yourself angry and resentful that other people don't live up to your expectations?

  • Do you find that your thoughts race along so fast that you have a hard time going to sleep?

  • Do you feel as if your emotions are "out of control"?

You might be surprised to find out that the mindfulness meditation therapy I offer in Oakland might help a great deal with these concerns.

Mindfulness based meditation teaches people how to observe their thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and sense of awareness. Reseachers have demonstrated that this and other forms of meditation show positive mental health and physical benefits. Meditation is on the cutting edge of research and therapy in a mental health technique called mindfulness based cognitive behavioral therapy (MBCBT).

The forms of meditation I teach my clients in Oakland are not religious at all. The point of these techniques is to learn to observe and notice your thoughts and sensations. The simple act of doing so has a calming and positive effect on your body and mind. Researchers are not sure how meditation works, but they are able to measure and demonstrate that meditation is quite helpful. I find that it helps my clients feel aware and calm so they can think clearly, make good decisions, sleep better, and feel less anxious and depressed. I find that mindfulness based meditation helps a great deal with social anxiety and social phobia.

The mindfulness meditative practices I teach my clients in Oakland also share much in common with mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).

I help clients in Oakland learn to meditate as a way of working toward other goals - such as learning to work though anxiety, panic attacks, and depression, using other complimentary techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy, EMDR, and Somatic Experiencing.

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Mindfulness Therapy and Teens in Oakland

I find that Oakland teens and adolescents respond very well to therapy that includes instruction in mindfulness based meditation.

Most teens are in a stage of their lives where they are trying to master their social identity and sense of who they are as a unique person. Along with this struggle, they must fight against a great deal of both their own insecurities as well as the insecurities of their peers.

Mindfulness based therapy offers teens a set of skills that they can practice to help them stay calm, cool, and collected. The skills often translate directly into a psychological advantage in competitive areas such as sports or music, as the ability to calm and focus the mind naturally aids people of all ages in stressful situations.

Many teens like mindfulness based therapy because they can see almost immediate results in how they feel and it offers them a practical, concrete tools they can use toward working with such problems as anger, insecurity, stress, and anxiety, including social anxiety.

I not only teach teens mindfulness based techniques in individual therapy in Oakland, but also take kids on mindfulness based nature trips where they can learn meditation techniques from expert teachers and work on social skills, through my work at Blackbird Family Therapy, Inc. in Oakland.

Call 415-820-1487 for a free phone consultation.

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