Mindfulness and Compassion MSc

University of the West of Scotland

This final MSc module allows students to complete an independent piece of research in an area linking mindfulness practice and/or teaching to psychological factors, whilst reflecting on the research process and the broader experience of becoming a teacher of Mindfulness and Compassion. Practical skills will also be developed further in accordance with the Mindfulness Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC). Students will gain experience of delivering mindfulness material to a self-recruited client group, with the support of Mindfulness Association Tutors. Students will reflect on how this experience will enhance their employability and entrepreneurial skills. Students will be encouraged to address the interface between research, practice and ethics, and to use research and evidence-based approaches to develop as a reflective practitioner.

The fourth module will examine compassion and its role in understanding others through empathic processes, whilst also advancing student knowledge and understanding of the research process. Students will be introduced to the practical skills required to teach the Compassion Based Living Course (CBLC) curriculum. Students will have the opportunity to lead sessions and observe the delivery of the CBLC curriculum, continually developing their ethical practice skills in line with the Mindfulness Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC).

In this second MSc module, students will explore key domains of mindfulness teaching whilst examining links between mindfulness, human behaviour and biological processes. Students will also begin to consider the research process. Course themes will be explored from both practical and academic perspectives. Students will be introduced to generic mindfulness teaching skills and will also begin to receive instructor feedback, and give and receive peer feedback, in accordance with the Mindfulness Based Interventions-Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI-TAC).

In this first module, students will consider the concept of mindfulness from both practice and academic perspectives. The module will help students broaden their knowledge and understanding of key psychological theories and concepts that are inherently relevant to mindfulness practice, with a particular focus on aspects of health psychology and research enquiry. Throughout the module students will engage with current theories, methods and research within the area of psychological wellbeing and will develop an understanding of the relevance and ethical application of these concepts in relation to mindfulness practice. Students will engage in structured mindfulness practice through a Mindfulness Based Learning Course (MBLC), personal mindfulness meditation practice and daily life mindfulness activities. This engagement with mindfulness practice will support learners in their future ethical practice of mindfulness teaching through the development of the core principles of mindfulness and compassion.

In the third MSc module, students will explore the topic of cognition and consciousness, grounded within both practice and academic perspectives. Students will be introduced to a range of topics within Cognitive Psychology, and will reflect on aspects of mindfulness within this framework. Throughout the module students will critically engage with current theories, methods and academic research within the area of mindfulness, cognition and consciousness. Students will engage with the Mindfulness Based Interventions: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) to develop the teaching, feedback, and assessment, and ethical practice skills needed to deliver the Mindfulness Based Living Course (MBLC) curriculum.