Introducing CCFW's Mindful Living and Practice Initiative

The Psychology Department’s Center for Child and Family Well-Being (CCFW) announces the launch of a new initiative promoting a focus on Mindful Living and Practice.  This initiative comes thanks to the generous support of Yaffa and Paul Maritz, as well as support from the UW Office of the Provost and the UW College of Arts and Sciences.

The Mindful Living and Practice initiative aims to promote the positive development and well-being of children and families by engendering, translating, applying and sharing knowledge about mindfulness with children, parents, practitioners and educators. The core activities of this initiative will include outreach to the community, professional training, and research.

The initiative is based on the premise that mindfulness, that is, being present, open, accepting and intentional, enhances children’s, parents', caregivers', educators' and practitioners' empathy, compassion, and self-regulation. It also improves caregiver’s stress-management, responsiveness, and consistency in their interactions with children, all of which enhances children’s well-being.

The goals of the initiative include providing the community of parents, educators, and practitioners ready access to the latest evidence-based knowledge about mindfulness as well as opportunities for training in mindfulness practices. The CCFW will also build research collaborations and programs examining the value of mindfulness in child and family well-being. 

Outreach and dissemination events will include these upcoming public lectures and professional training meetings in 2013:

• March 1, Daniel Siegel, author of The Whole Brain Child and The Developing Mind, – Free to the Public
• April 16-17, Mindful Families, Schools & Communities: Research-to-Practice Conference
• May 3, Susan Kaiser Greenland, author of The Mindful Child, - Free to the Public
• May 4, Susan Kaiser Greenland, Incorporating Mindfulness into Education and Practice