Trainer
-
Dr Bruno CayounDirector | Trainer | ResearcherDr Bruno Cayoun is a clinical and research psychologist and developer of Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MiCBT). He is the founder and Director of the MiCBT Institute, a leading provider of MiCBT training and professional development to mental health services and professional associations internationally since 2003.
Bruno keeps a private practice in Hobart, Australia, undertakes mindfulness research at the MiCBT Institute, and regularly cooperates on mindfulness-based research with various universities in Australia and abroad. He has a strong interest in Buddhist psychology and has practised mindfulness meditation in the Burmese Vipassana tradition of Ledi Sayadaw, U Ba Khin and S. N. Goenka and undergone intensive training in France, Nepal, India, and Australia since 1989.
Bruno is the author of several books, including Mindfulness-integrated CBT: Principles and Practice (Wiley, 2011), Mindfulness-integrated CBT for Well-Being and Personal Growth: Four Steps to Enhance Inner Calm, Self-Confidence and Relationships (Wiley, 2015), co-author of The Clinical Handbook of Mindfulness‐integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (Wiley, 2019) and The Mindfulness and Meditation Workbook for Anxiety and Depression (New Harbinger, 2024). His mindfulness training audio instructions are used worldwide in various languages, and he is the principal developer of validated questionnaires, including the Short Progress Assessment , the Mindfulness-based Self Efficacy Scale, and co-developer of the Equanimity Scale 16.
Ensure you double-check the time zone before booking as MiCBT training events run across multiple time zones.
MiCBT for Chronic Pain and Trauma
Recent research provides multidisciplinary evidence that chronic pain is learned through emotional processes in 80% of cases, and is more likely to occur in people with a history of trauma. This workshop will describe the neuro-phenomenological mechanisms underlying the use of MiCBT for trauma and pain, both chronic and acute. Participants will learn mindfulness-based exposure methods for clients with persistent pain and trauma symptoms. These will include novel exposure methods to decrease avoidance and reduce anxiety.
In particular, it will introduce the use of the Mindfulness-based Interoceptive Exposure Task (MIET), which is a specific skill set from the larger Mindfulness-integrated CBT (MiCBT) approach, to create immediate relief from both emotional and physical pain. These methods will be shown through real case video demonstrations of distress reduction in clients with chronic pain and trauma.
The workshop will deepen the usual understanding of operant conditioning and exposure principles through the co-emergence model of reinforcement. It will teach how to case-conceptualise clients’ avoidance and other aversive reactions to pain and traumatic symptoms accordingly, in order to increase the treatment efficacy.
Although this workshop is clinically oriented, it will also benefit anyone interested in a new understanding of the mechanisms of reinforcement.
Workshop Content
The workshop will cover the following topics:
- mindfulness principles
- the co-emergence model of reinforcement
- the role and use of interoceptive awareness in pain and trauma
- the use of the mindfulness-based interoceptive exposure task (MIET) to decrease distress and avoidant behaviour
- the theoretical underpinnings of Mindfulness-integrated CBT
- case conceptualisation of avoidant behaviour in pain and trauma.
- brief overview of the 4 stages of MiCBT
Learning Outcomes
Participants will learn about:
- mindfulness principles
- the role of memory and emotion in pain chronification
- a neurophenomenological approach to operant conditioning and reinforcement principles
- the nature of mindfulness-based exposure
- the use of the mindfulness-based interoceptive exposure task (MIET) as a pain- and distress-reduction method
- the use the co-emergence model of reinforcement to improve case-conceptualisation of pain- and trauma-related behaviour
Audience
This workshop is designed to meet the needs of clinical psychologists and other clinical mental health disciplines, including postgraduate students with an existing understanding of reinforcement principles, as well as researchers in the field of cognitive and behavioural psychology. The participants who have a working knowledge of CBT and some understanding of mindfulness will maximise the likelihood of achieving the training objectives. Having taught and personally practised mindfulness meditation is an advantage, but not a requirement.
Assessment of Learning
During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to roleplay and case-conceptualise their own (or others’) cases of clients with chronic pain and discuss how they may implement this approach within their treatment plan.
Related Events