Category: Announcements

Announcements about special events, courses, or other time-sensitive news from the Mindful Ecotherapy Center

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NOW AVAILABLE: MBE in Clinical Practice Textbook!

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) in Clinical Practice Online Home Study Course

This is the long-awaited textbook for the upcoming NEW Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Certification Program!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO PURCHASE

This textbook provides a comprehensive guide to Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy that integrates mindfulness practices with nature-based therapy techniques, offering insights and practical tools for mental health professionals looking to enrich their therapeutic approaches with mindfulness and ecotherapy. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to effectively use this resource in your clinical practice.

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) is a therapeutic approach that combines traditional mindfulness practices with ecotherapy, which involves interacting with nature to promote mental well-being. MBE is rooted in the principles of mindfulness, which is the practice of being fully present and aware of the moment without judgment, and ecotherapy, which is the therapeutic use of nature and outdoor settings as a context for healing and personal growth.

Each chapter contains information on the foundational concepts and theoretical underpinnings of MBE. Understanding the rationale behind combining mindfulness and ecotherapy will provide a solid base for integrating these practices into your own sessions.

Key topics covered in this text include the historical background of mindfulness and ecotherapy, and the historical background and theoretical framework for many of the techniques used in Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE). We will also discuss the core principles of MBE and what the latest research says about the benefits of MBE.

Many of the chapters will look at the science behind nature’s impact on mental health, using evidence-based principles and citations to recent studies on the tools and techniques introduced in each chapter.

The textbook offers a variety of mindfulness and ecotherapy exercises that can be adapted for both individual and group therapy settings, and there is a chapter covering most of the major interventions and activities used in MBE.

The practice of MBE brings its own unique challenges and opportunities. There are detailed session plans and structures provided in the textbook to organize your therapy sessions. The book outlines various stages of MBE, from introductory sessions to advanced practices, ensuring a comprehensive approach. We will also review how to address some of the challenges unique to the practice of MBE.

MBE also has distinct ethical and practical considerations. This textbook will review and help you understand the ethical and practical considerations involved in incorporating MBE into clinical practice. This includes maintaining professional boundaries, ensuring client safety during outdoor activities, and respecting the natural environment. We will also review some of the challenges to be overcome to maintain confidentiality even in outdoor settings, being mindful of potential interruptions or onlookers.

This text will also teach you how to conduct thorough risk assessments for outdoor activities and have contingency plans for adverse weather or other issues.

You will also learn how to promote environmental stewardship and encourage clients to engage with nature in a respectful and sustainable manner.

The NEW Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Certification Program will be available July 1, 2024! Watch here and in the newsletter for details when the program is announced!

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MBE Program Reset Scheduled March 20, 2024

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator Certification Course

This is a notice for everyone who enrolled in the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator Certification Program.

To comply with new standards set by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), we will be performing a re-set of the course program for the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator Certification Training. The old standards allowed us to include all of the three courses required for certification in one program. The new standards require the three courses to be separated, with individual certificates for each course.

Some of you may have enrolled when this change was being made, and are therefore enrolled in both the old and the new programs. This has caused some confusion for students, therefore on March 20, 2024 we will be re-setting the course programs for all enrolled.

This means that we will be deleting the old program entirely and enrolling everyone in the new program. What this means for those enrolled in the old program is that there will now be three courses in your account instead of just the one. The content of the courses have not changed. They have merely been split up into three courses instead of one larger course. The number of hours and the materials will remain the same.

This will only temporarily affect your enrollment in the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Facilitator Certification Program. You may have difficulties logging in on March 20 as we make the change, but after that you should be able to login with no problems. If you are still having difficulties after March 20, please contact me using the form below.

In some cases the re-set may cause you to lose your course progress, so please save any progress prior to the re-set date of March 20. Make a note of where you are in your course(s) prior to March 20 so that should you lose your progress you will still be able to find your place in the new course materials.

I apologize for any inconvenience. This change was required by the National Board for Certified Counselors to keep our standards aligned with their requirements.

If you have any questions please use the form below.

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Why We Don’t Support Facebook or X-Twitter

Boycott Facebook and X-Twitter

You may have noticed that the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, LLC does not have a Facebook or a Twitter presence. There are multiple reasons for this, but the main reason is that both of those platforms are discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community, women, and other minorities.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had this to say about Facebook:

When we spoke on social media about our experience, other LGBTQ people shared similar stories of being censored by Facebook. These are not isolated incidents. In fact, we learned that Facebook has a history of censoring LGBTQ advertisers. And Facebook’s problems are not limited to the LGBTQ community, Black creators documenting police violence have recently seen their pages temporarily taken down completely. Facebook calls these “mistakes” but isn’t doing enough to stop them from happening again.

Facebook is a platform that claims to connect people, so why does their platform silence LGBTQ voices and prevent them from connecting with their communities? Facebook has a responsibility to represent everyone in a fair and just manner. That means addressing how the LGBTQ community can feel at home on Facebook when the platform appears to discriminate against members of our community for showing who we are.

Twitter, now known as “X”, or as I like to call it, X-Twitter, is no better.

According to a story from PBS, Twitter is the LEAST SAFE for the LGBTQ+ community:

GLAAD’s scorecard called it “the most dangerous platform for LGBTQ people” and the only one that saw its scores decline from last year.

Twitter ‘s communications staff was eradicated after Musk took over the company and for months inquiries to the press office have been answered only an automated reply of a poop emoji, as was the case when The Associated Press reached out to the company for comment.

LGBTQ+ advocates have long warned that online hate and harassment can lead to violence offline. But even when it does not, online abuse can take a toll on a person’s mental health.

“There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t have a doxxing situation for somebody in our community that we have to come in and help them stop it and stop the hate, stop the vitriol and stop the attacks,” said GLAAD CEO and President Sarah Kate Ellis referring to the malicious practice that involves gathering private or identifying information and releasing it online without the person’s permission, usually in an attempt to harass, threaten, shame or exact revenge. “It’s really been amped up to a level that we’ve never seen before.”

On Twitter, attacks on LGBTQ+ users have increased substantially since Elon Musk took over the company last fall, according to multiple advocacy groups.

For this reason, the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, LLC does not now have, nor will we ever have, either a Facebook or a Twitter profile. We support our LGBTQ+ community as well as all minority communities, and will always advocate for LGBTQ+ and other minority rights.

If you would like to join us by boycotting either or both platforms, please feel free to tell us about it in the comments below!

You might also wish to contact Facebook and Twitter and let them know how you feel about their policies. The contact information is below for both platforms.

Facebook Complaints

Dial the Facebook Customer Service Phone Number (844)-457-0351 to reach Facebook directly.

Using +1-(844)-457-0351, you can complain to Facebook directly. This number is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Ways to Contact Facebook Support

Select Report a problem
If you face platform problems, you can report it directly to the Facebook team. This can be done by choosing “Report a Problem” under the Help menu.

Facebook Support Phone Number
The Facebook Customer Support Number is 844-457-0351, and users can use this number to speak directly to a live person.

Facebook Support Email
Use support@fb.com to get general support from Facebook.
Send an email to press@fb.com if you need press-related inquiries.
Users can use appeals@fb.com to appeal against blocked content.
You can report content against Facebook’s guidelines via abuse@fb.com.
Write an email to ip@fb.com to resolve intellectual property-related queries.

Offline Facebook support
If you cannot file a complaint through the above methods, you can write a letter and send it to the following address:

Facebook Headquarters
1 Hacker Way
Menlo Park, CA 94025
United States of America

1-844-457-0351


Can you email Facebook about a complaint?
Yes, you can email the Facebook team regarding a complaint. Use the platformcs@support.facebook.com address to reach them regarding any financial issues related to your account. You can also use abuse@fb.com to report anything on Facebook against the Facebook Community Standards.

Dial the Facebook Support Number 1-844-457-0351 to contact Facebook customer service directly. This number will let you speak directly to a live person on Facebook.

X-Twitter

Unfortunately, Twitter doesn’t care enough about its users to offer a direct way to file a complaint. The best you can do is follow the information below, but be aware that you probably won’t get a response.

There is no way to contact X by phone, email, or DM directly, but you can create a support ticket at

https://help.twitter.com/en/forms

You might try contacting their advertising department should you decide to boycott X-Twitter.

To reach X’s advertising support team, fill out a form at

https://ads.twitter.com/en/help

You might also inform their investor team and let them know you’re planning a boycott.
You can reach this department at

https://investor.twitterinc.com/contact/default.aspx

If you decide to take action, please let us know how it turned out! Both Facebook and X-Twitter have been notorious about not responding to customer concerns. But together we can make a difference! When it starts affecting their bottom line, only then will they change! Contact us and let us know what you think!

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FREE Course: Ethics of Ecotherapy

In our ongoing effort to improve the quality of the courses we offer, we will be applying to the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) to be able to provide LIVE continuing education opportunities in addition to our online offerings.

As part of this process we are offering this FREE two-hour course on Ethics in Ecotherapy in June of 2023!

This course will cover some ethics issues common to the practice of ecotherapy. In addition to two free hours of continuing education on the Ethics of Ecotherapy, participants will receive a coupon code good for $25 off any course offered by the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, LLC.

This course will be conducted by Zoom, so you will need access to Zoom for the course.

Course Description

Ecotherapy usually includes doing therapy outdoors. Therapy in non-traditional settings presents unique ethical challenges. These ethical issues are usually not covered in therapy graduate school programs. In this course we will discuss how to address some common ethical issues for therapists and counselors that are unique to the process of ecotherapy.  

Course Objectives

After taking this course the student will be able to:

  • Discuss and describe confidentiality and informed consent issues common to the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss training recommendations regarding the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss assessment and client safety issues common to the practice of ecotherapy
  • Discuss and describe what constitutes dual relationships in ecotherapy
  • Discuss and describe values conflicts in ecotherapy settings
  • Develop a sense of self-awareness for counselors and therapists practicing ecotherapy  

Course Instructions

This is a LIVE course that will be offered on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Savings Time. An email reminder containing the Zoom code to access the course will be sent the day before the conference. The conference will be presented on Zoom. You need to be present for the duration of the course to get course credit.

The course will be two hours on Zoom. At the end of the course you will have access to a link for the final exam.

Upon successful completion of the exam you will receive a Certificate of Completion in pdf format, and you will be emailed a coupon code good for $25 off any course offered by the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, LLC.

You may register for this FREE course any time prior to June 20, 2023. If you do not pre-register before the date, we cannot guarantee a seat for the course, so please register as early as possible! You may find help registering for courses and accessing course materials by visiting the Help Center.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS FREE COURSE

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Ecospirituality: The Way of the Coyote

Ecospirituality: The Way of the Coyote

Now Available!

Ecospirituality: The Way of the Coyote

Ecospirituality: The Way of the CoyoteEcospirituality: The Way of the Coyote
click on the image to purchase

The word “spiritual” comes from the Latin spiritus, which means, “breath.” So originally, that which was spiritual was simply that which was breathtaking. From this perspective a spiritual experience is an awe-inspiring experience. People of all religions…or none…can experience such awe-inspiring events in nature. Ecospirituality can be spiritual without being religious. Those breathtaking moments for me most often occur when I have made some sort of connection to nature. Ecospirituality is the process of seeking wonder and awe in those moments in natural environments. The Ecospirituality Program is available for use at any organization that teaches principles of ecology and/or mental and spiritual health. If you are interested in presenting the program at your organization, training is available for facilitators at www.mindfulecotherapy.org.If your organization would like to implement the Ecospirituality Program, Charlton Hall, MMFT, LMFT/S, RPT-S, CHt also offers facilitated live instruction and consultation on the program, as well as volume discounts on copies of the Ecospirituality Workbook.Learn more at the Mindful Ecotherapy Center’s website at www.mindfulecotherapy.org.

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Become an Instructor with MEC

Mindful Mood Management Resources

Are you a licensed mental health professional? You could earn extra income by developing courses for the Mindful Ecotherapy Center!

Instructors are paid 60% of the net revenue generated for every course sold. If your course is accepted, then very time your course is sold, 60% of the net revenue is automatically mailed to your Paypal account.

GUIDELINES FOR COURSE DEVELOPMENT

Use the contact form below to submit a course proposal to the Mindful Ecotherapy Center. We look for courses directly related to mindfulness and ecotherapy, but will consider other topics. Use the guidelines below when submitting a course proposal.

  1. You must own the rights to any course materials submitted. If you have submitted the course to other agencies or organizations in the past, you must demonstrate that you own the rights to any materials submitted to the Mindful Ecotherapy Center.
  2. The course must have a set of clearly defined learning objectives. A good rule of thumb is one to three learning objectives for every hour of course material.
  3. You may submit course materials in written, audio or video format.
  4. If written format, you must submit 15 pages of material for every hour of continuing education credit. A ‘page’ is considered to be about 500 words. So for a two-hour continuing education course you would need to submit about 1000 words. For a three-hour course you’d need to submit about 1500 words, etc. You must own the rights to any written materials submitted, and references must be properly cited in APA format.
  5. If submitting audio or video materials, there should be one hour of video or audio for every hour of continuing education. So a one-hour course should have one hour of audio or video.
  6. If submitting video with patients or other participants besides the instructor, a written release must be obtained from other participants saying you have their permission to video them. If you wish to use this method in your course materials, a video release form will be emailed to you upon request.
  7. There must be some method of evaluation; i.e., a post-test or quiz. The quiz is used to demonstrate that the student has achieved the learning objectives defined for the course, so the questions on the quiz should be linked to the learning objectives defined for the course.
  8. There should be a minimum of three citations for each course. This means that the course must be evidence-based, relying on studies that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals.
  9. If your course proposal is accepted by the Mindful Ecotherapy Center, you will be asked to sign a contract guaranteeing a 60/40 fee split. This means that you receive 60% of net revenue generated from the sale of your course after taxes, transaction fees (e.g., Paypal fees), and any other deductions.
  10. Course fees are determined by the Mindful Ecotherapy Center. You will be informed of the fee established for your course if your proposal is accepted.

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Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Group March 2019

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook

In partnership with the Fernwood Center for Wellbeing, the Mindful Ecotherapy Center will be offering a Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Group starting on March 21, 2019. Details and registration are below.

WHO

This group is open to all who are interested in learning how to use mindfulness to tap into the healing power of nature.

WHAT

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy (MBE) is a 12-week program that uses mindfulness to connect you to nature’s healing power. Each weekly session lasts 60-90 minutes and deals with one of the 12 skills of MBE.

Click here for a detailed overview of the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy program.

Click here to purchase a copy of the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook (needed for the workshops)

WHEN

The program will start on Thursday evening, March 21, and will run from 6:30 to 7:30 each week with an optional 30 minute question and answer period after each session. The program runs 12 weeks, on Thursday evenings, from March 21, 2019 to June 6, 2019.

WHERE

Groups meet at:

Fernview Center for Wellbeing
1115 Dunlap Road
Anderson SC 29621

HOW

There are two options for attending. The first is pay-as-you-go for $20 per session, due upon the beginning of each session. The second is to use the registration form below. When you register below for the entire 12-session program, you receive a discount on the total number of sessions (12 sessions x $20 = regular cost of $240), and a copy of the Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy Workbook is included in your registration fee.

If you choose the pay-as-you-go method, you will need to order the workbook yourself prior to the first session.

WHY

Mindfulness-Based Ecotherapy helps to relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression while teaching you skills that will help you to live a more grounded, centered, and balanced life.

REGISTER BELOW

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