igarette smoking provides an ideal gateway behaviour for drug taking (nicotene) without the apparent obvious consequences.  It has all the necessary ingredients to both focus the smoker on their breath (because you can’t smoke without firstly breathing) and yet keeps you distracted from the usually ‘busy’ doing mind. This is why in times of intense stress or dealing with boredom, after work/workout, when having a drink,  coping with shock or dealing with a traumatic life threatening event, for smokers an automatic response can be to ‘light up’.

Yet every reader knows about or through advertising  has been exposed to the negative health consequences of smoking.

MMP knows the negative effects of something is not in itself a powerful enough deterrant to sustainably change behaviour.

Maybe smoking in a time of crisis does in fact appear to calm or quiten an individual’s mind down, perhaps changing it psychologically enabling an increased ability to cope. Following on from the importance of the breath could it be an almost unconscious acknowledgement of the fact that there is breath awareness? Breath awareness in disguise.

While the breath is contaminated with smoke, the act of smoking helps individuals to cope, almost silently meditating on the breath. For all former smokers of which the founder of  MMP is one there was quite some satisfaction in breathing out the smoke, as well as lighting up, then breathing in the first breath and general awareness centered on the act of breathing. Although you cannot smoke if you don’t have some awareness of smoking, you can certainly smoke with little awareness of breathing.

It’s doing a behaviour without being aware that becomes imprinted causing brain changes (Schwartz and Begley, 2002) where autopilot lays the foundations for mindlessness. This enables dependent behaviours to continually get the oxygen they need to grow. And they do. We all do it sometimes. Breathing without awareness of breathing, taking drugs (alcohol, caffeine, medications) without awareness of taking drugs, drinking without awareness of drinking, smoking without awareness of smoking. In fact dependent behaviours can only thrive through a degree of low awareness, if you had high awareness you both wouldn’t do it as much and being ‘dependent’ on anything would be significantly reduced.

Mind Management Psychology places additional emphasis on slowing down, gaining awareness on what you’re actually doing for a part of each day. Through a daily short practice the likliehood of maintaining ‘smoking cessation’ is improved. You learn how to ‘smoke the breath’ instead! Even chain smoke it! As a result you begin to ‘train’ your mind giving you, once again, all the benefits.

rojected to be the biggest illness this century depression is estimated to affect:

About 10 % of all Australians at some point in their life.

And while 20% of people will be affected by depression 6% will directly experience a major depressive illness. It’s therefore not uncommon especially in the west with affluent cultures and often has its genesis in something that we all experience at some time in our lives, sorrow.

So in treating depression at Mind Management Psychology we take a more nuanced and ‘mindful’ view of sorrow and then depression. For any individual rather than attacking sorrow and working on forcing change to the symptoms we allow things to change slowly by investigating the primary cause of extended sorrow, the operations in and of ‘the mind’.

Depressive symptoms are therefore thoroughly explored first; sorrow may be healthy, entirely ‘understandable’ and very ‘normal’; a broken relationship, loosing a job, death/loss of a friend, car accident, financial stress or just the ongoing demands of family life can take their toll. Trying to go too fast in order to ‘not feel’ and to alleviate the ‘depression symptom checklist’ including poor sleep pattern, loss of appetite and thoughts of ‘self-harm’ can allow insuffient time ‘to grieve’, to see clearly what your mind is doing and/or to know yourself a little better. Issues of loss, feeling a ‘failure’, feeling both unconfident and unmotivated with low energy levels are extremely common. Having support to slowly gain direction at these times is critical.

And sometimes actively trying too many different things: taking medication, physical exercise, going out more, staying in, shopping, gambling and/or drinking, attending support groups and/or increasing the social network may collectively reduce depressive symptoms but can also mean more pressure ‘to do’ while difficulties ‘to be’ remain. There can be an air of accepted sorrow, ‘unsatisfactoriness’ or resigned ‘suffering’ that a person may be left with.

Mind Mangement Psychology directly focuses on ‘what any person’ is left with, ‘you’ and ‘your mind’. The ‘unsatisfactorniness’ or ‘suffering’ can be an ‘unexplored’ opportunity for ‘you’ to over time retrain your ‘mind’ in a different way. Not fighting or going to war with your mind is ‘central’ at MMP. We teach specific micro skills in a confidential & supportive environment that can be applied anywhere, any time and any place as long as your relatively ‘drug free’ and ‘coherent’. You work on your own mind at your own pace and with a mindful daily practise will receive tangible benefits. Your mind will actually serve ‘you’ better rather than the other way around.

You begin to appreciate that unacknowledged ‘sorrow’ and therefore not dealing effectively with it often leads to depression.

The more you consistently practise the more benefit you receive! Over time this simple practise becomes self-reinforcing, reducing depression and improving your mood.
Dealing with sorrow is the key, MMP advocates a daily program to manage this. If you never experience sorrow, look carefully and you’ll see it’s more than likely present. Being alive you’ll experience some form of sorrow, that’s normal and healthy!

While depression gets much ‘publicity’ about being unhealthy it’s cumulative and unaddressed ‘sorrow’ that lays its foundation. Taking away these foundations and depression simply can’t grow!

By focusing on mind management principles and teaching specific mind management skills this unique meditation program will allow you over 4 weekly sessions: (with an active daily practice of 2 minutes each day over 4 weeks) to begin something quite extroadinary:

To not just quiten the busy mind but over time…

1. To appreciate your brain and its amazing neuroplasticity
   
2. To train it with some very simple and effective exercises
   
3. To understand the counterproductive role that multi-tasking has on concentration
   
4. To better understand the nature of all minds
   
5. To know your anchor and become ‘friends’ with this
   
6. To improve your problem solving abilities especially  when ‘things go wrong’
   
7. To enable you to be calmer, less anxious and more relaxed
   
8. To reduce depressive symptoms
   
9. To be less angry and reactive
   
10. To deal with unwanted thoughts more effectively and enhance clearer thinking
    
11. To develop improved decision making
    
12. To have improved focus and concentration
    
13. To change channels from channel more to channel less
    
14. To manage stress better
    
15. To be generally happier and more content
    
16. To learn where you actually live
    
17. To separate thoughts from feelings
    
18. To have a circuit breaker in place counteracting ‘automatic’ behaviours
    
19. To improve awareness of being in the ‘present’
    
20. To live both exactly the same yet  differently
    

Flexible to run either ‘individually’ or on a ‘group’ basis, depending on individual circumstances and prospective participants. 

All participants will be tested before and after the program and given feedback on any changes in their results. Confidential sessions are firstly conducted individually where an assessment for suitability is performed including testing. During the first session mind management micro skills for week one are introduced. All participants are required to practice the program for the four week period and make their own assessment of any benefits.

Week 1: Individual Psychological Assessment including biographical and demographical information, four  assessments are to be completed:  Novaco Anger Inventory (short form); Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and Thought Control Questionaire taking approximately 20 minutes. There is a focus on the nature of change, neuroplasticity and how it can be best cultivated by not forcing it; the issuing of a new invitation for the mind is emphasized. Some discussion around the mind and mindfulness are encouraged especially the definition ‘of non judgemental moment to moment awareness’ and the difficulties associated. Introduction of micro skill 1 focusing on breath counting in a calm and relaxed manner is practiced once the individual participant gives an indication of some physical manifestation of the relaxation response (e.g. tingling fingers, some numbness/heaviness in hands etc.). Time for questions focusing on alleviating any concerns which may be raised and the voluntary nature of the program. While the daily benefits of practice are emphasized it is also understood participants may withdraw at any time. Individual participants are strongly encouraged to make their own assessment of the program as they complete each week, not to do too much beyond 2 minutes at a time daily and keep the practice as a personal solo activity. Consent Statement regarding University Of Melbourne analysing ‘de-identified’ results is read and signed.

Week 2: The first group session comprising all participants who have completed week 1. Feedback from the 1st week’s practice is encouraged, any concerns clarifications, problems with not having time, forgetting to practice, etc. are all welcomed in a validating and non-judgemental manner. There is re-emphasis on the week 1 skill to make sure all participants are correctly doing the breath counting exercise in the same way.  The 3 Breath model of meditation is introduced as being a seamless extension of the breath counting from session 1. The group then practices from direction (in a calm and relaxed manner) the week 1 breath counting exercise together with the week 2/3 breath model as outlined by the facilitator.

Week 3: The second group session comprising all participants who have completed week 2. Feedback from the 2nd week’s practice is encouraged, any concerns clarifications, problems with not having time, forgetting to practice, etc. are all welcomed in a validating and non-judgemental manner. There is re-emphasis on the week 1 and 2 micro- skills to ensure all participants are correctly doing the breath counting exercise and 3 breath model of meditation similarly. The 3 Breath model of problems/issues/suffering/unhappiness/ is now introduced as being a seamless extension of the 3 breath model of meditation from session 2. The group then practices from direction (in a calm and relaxed manner) the week 1 breath counting exercise together with the week 2/3 breath model and then the 3 breath model of problems as outlined by the facilitator.

Week 4: The third group session comprising all participants who have completed week 3. Feedback from the 3rd week’s practice is encouraged, any concerns clarifications, problems with not having time, forgetting to practice, etc. are all welcomed in a validating and non-judgemental manner. There is re-emphasis on the week 1, 2 and 3 micro-skills to ensure all participants are correctly doing the breath counting exercise, the 3 breath model of meditation and now the 3 breath model of problems/issues/suffering/unhappiness similarly. The 3 Breath model of self-improvement is now introduced as being a seamless extension of the 3 breath model of problems… from session 3. The group then practices from direction (in a calm and relaxed manner) the week 1 breath counting exercise together with the week 2/3 breath model of meditation and then the week 3/3 breath model of problems…..and now the week 4/3 breath model of self-improvement (personal quality)  as outlined by the facilitator.

Week 5: The fourth group session comprising all participants who have completed week 4. Feedback from the 4th week’s practice is encouraged, any concerns clarifications, problems with not having time, forgetting to practice, etc. are all welcomed in a validating and non-judgemental manner. The questionnaires from week1 are completed at T2 for evaluation. Participants are thanked for their involvement and co-operation in the 4 week program and encouraged to continue if beneficial. Initial indications from a cursory view of the questionaires can be made and communicated to participants’ if they express interest. Further individual follow-up appointments can be made with those interested.

For further information: ph. 61 3 93893761