Description
Receiving a cancer diagnosis and undergoing treatment are significant life events. Few illnesses are more shocking or have such a far-reaching impact. Yet too often, there is little or no psychological support at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, or for those in recovery. Tackling this issue, Mindfulness and Cancer offers an accessible guide for mindfulness teachers, enabling them to reach ordinary people with cancer and teach them skills to help them turn towards difficult experiences, manage their thoughts and feelings and stay positive in the face of adversity.
MBCT for Cancer is founded on a ‘three circles’ model, in which people move from suffering (involving trauma, rumination and avoidance), through mindful awareness (intention, coming back, turning towards and kindness) to a new state of presence and wellbeing. The book includes a range of brief, eyes-open practices that people with cancer can call on to help them navigate real-life moments in clinics, treatment rooms and at home. Trish Bartley is a mindfulness teacher, trainer, supervisor and retreat leader who has been involved with MBCT since its earliest days.
Author
Trish Bartley is a mindfulness teacher, trainer, supervisor and retreat leader who has been involved with MBCT since its earliest days. She is a founding member of the Centre for Mindfulness, Research and Practice (CMRP), Bangor University, where she taught on the mindfulness master’s program for many years, leading the advanced teacher training module.
Trish taught mindfulness to cancer patients in a local oncology unit in North Wales from 2001-2020, adapting and refining the 8-week MBCT programme specifically for the needs of cancer patients. She has also worked with local people in low and middle income urban and rural contexts in the UK and South Africa. In 2024, she co-founded an online mindfulness and cancer project that is designed to be international, accessible and affordable to all – www.mindfulnessandcancer.com
Audience
Mindfulness teachers; mindfulness-trained professionals (including psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, counsellors, doctors and nurses) who work with people with cancer and other life-threatening conditions; those seeking to understand more about the potential of mindfulness to help individuals with pain and chronic illness.
Contents
Foreword by John Teasdale
Introduction
Part 1: Setting the Scene
The Three Circles Model
The Four Movements
Part 2: The 8-week MBCT for Cancer Course
Session 1: Automatic Pilot
Session 2: Mind Wandering
Session 3: Limits and Edges
Session 4: Patterns of Reactivity
Session 5: Gently Being with the Difficult
Session 6: Thoughts Are Not Facts
Session 7: Planning Ahead
Session 8: Completing and Continuing
Part 3: Mindfulness and Cancer Issues
Brief practices and everyday mindfulness
The mindfulness and cancer group
Cancer, mindfulness and the body
Balancing up the pleasant
Cancer and trauma
Inquiry and the MBCT for Cancer group
Part 4: Considerations for Teachers
Recruiting our Participants
Orientation and When to Offer the Programme
Taster Sessions and Adapting the Programme
Self-Care and Support
Some Parting Words
Details
Publisher: Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
ISBN: 9781803884752
Publication Date: April 2026
Pages: 188
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