Contemplative Psychotherapy Program
The Mindfulness Year
A transformational journey into the wisdom and practice of Mindfulness and its application to contemporary neuropsychology, psychotherapy, and psychosocial change.
Contemplative Psychotherapy Program
The Mindfulness Year
A transformational journey into the wisdom and practice of Mindfulness and its application to contemporary neuropsychology, psychotherapy, and psychosocial change.
Overview
The Mindfulness Year is a foundational study of contemplative psychology, meditation practice, and healing community. Students learn the foundations of mindfulness and loving kindness alongside the neuroscience of their efficacy and their practical applications in psychotherapy and other caregiving professions, in fostering human development, and in facilitating positive psychosocial change.
12 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available per retreat (fall and spring).
Faculty
The program is led by Joe Loizzo, MD, PhD, Nalanda Institute’s Founder and Academic Director. Joe is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Columbia-trained Buddhist scholar with over forty years’ experience studying the beneficial effects of contemplative practices on healing, learning and human development.
The program is enriched by world renowned guest faculty. Past faculty have included Sharon Salzberg, Jan Willis, Chris Germer, Kamilah Majied, Lobsang Rapgay, Jasmine Syedullah, Paul Fulton, Ethan Nichtern, Dan Siegel, Erin Olivo, David Kezur, Bart van Melik, and others.
Curriculum
The Mindfulness Year trains professionals in 4 core modules:
- Module 1 focuses on the Foundations in Contemplative Science and Practice
- Module 2 focuses on Foundations in Neuropsychology
- Module 3 focuses on Clinical and Practical Applications
- Module 4 focuses on Integrative Nuances and Professional Practice
Areas of study include:
- The theory, history, and context of the waves of Buddhism and the Four Noble Truths
- The 4 foundations of mindfulness, loving-kindness, and self-compassion practices
- Traditional and contemporary models of stress and trauma
- The neuroscience of meditation, plasticity, and memory reconsolidation
- Clinical applications of mindfulness, loving-kindness, and self-compassion
- Unlearning implicit bias, developing radical acceptance, and prosocial engagement
- Meditation practicum: instruction with founder, program co-directors, and guest teacher
Program Details
The course may be taken in one of two options: LIVE LEARNING or BLENDED LEARNING
Live Learning
The Live Learning program meets weekly online for live instruction on Thursdays from 6:00 – 8:30pm ET from September through May. Students participate in live lectures with visiting faculty. Core faculty include Drs. Joe Loizzo and Pilar Jennings.
Program Schedule
Opening Retreat: September 15 – 17, 2023
The year will begin with a live online retreat with Drs. Joe Loizzo and Pilar Jennings which will introduce the basic principles of Buddhist psychology, the practice of mindfulness, and the ethics of social engagement, laying the foundations for mindful self-healing.
Weekly Class: September – May
Meets Thursdays from 6:00 – 8:30pm ET
For each of the 30 weeks throughout the year, students gather on Thursdays for a live online class that includes meditation, whole group discussion, meditation teach-backs and small group breakouts, followed by a lecture-discussion led by our core or visiting faculty. These classes are facilitated by Joe Loizzo, Director of Programming Geri Loizzo and CPP Director Rahshaana Green. Classes are recorded and shared with participants via a student portal.
Intersession Retreat: January 6, 2024
There is an in-person, daylong retreat at Tibet House NY which will introduce the practice of self-compassion and loving kindness. (The retreat will have virtual access for those who cannot attend in person. This retreat will be held online if the cohort is not able to meet in person due to restrictions in place because of COVID-19.)
Spring Retreat: March 7 – 10, 2024
This in-person retreat at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS), Barre MA, with Sharon Salzberg and Drs. Joe Loizzo and Pilar Jennings will explore the nuances of integrating the powerful insights, methods and ethos of mindfulness-based personal and communal healing with the whole range of caregiving disciplines, focusing on their potential impact on professional development and professional ethics as well as the pitfalls of spiritual bypassing and cultural appropriation. (The retreat will have virtual access for those who cannot attend in person. This retreat will be held online if the cohort is not able to meet in person due to restrictions in place because of COVID-19.)
Extracurricular Offerings
- Optional weekly practice field, peer-led meditation and group sharing
- Optional weekly process field, peer-led study and discussion group
- Office hours with Nalanda Institute faculty
Program Requirements
Outside of participating in live meetings, students are expected to maintain a daily meditation practice based on the Mindfulness Year curriculum and read required texts. Students work on a capstone project throughout the year, guide meditation practices, and engage in group discussion and reflection.
Continuing Education Credits
24 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available for the Mindfulness Year 2023–2024. See below for more Information.
Application
Tuition: $4,500 per year (does not include in-person retreat accommodations).
Financial aid is available for those who qualify. Flexible payment plans are available.
Applications are open now with rolling admissions.
Please contact CPP Director Rahshaana Green with any questions rahshaana@nalandainstitute.org
Blended Learning
The Blended Learning program meets bi-weekly online for live instruction on Tuesday from 6:00 – 7:30pm CET; 12:00 – 1:30pm EST; 9:00 – 10:30am PST; from October through May. Students watch on-demand lectures of visiting faculty. Core faculty include Drs. Joe Loizzo and Diego Hangartner.
Program Schedule
Opening Retreat: September 1 – 3, 2023
The year will begin with an in-person retreat at Landguet Ried Center for Mindful Living (Bern, Switzerland), with Drs. Joe Loizzo and Diego Hangartner. The opening retreat will introduce the basic principles of Buddhist psychology, the practice of mindfulness, and the ethics of social engagement, laying the foundations for mindful self-healing. (The retreat will have virtual access for those who cannot attend in person. This retreat will be held online if the cohort is not able to meet in person due to restrictions in place because of COVID-19.)
Bi-Weekly Class: September – May
Meets Tuesdays, 6:00 – 7:30pm CET; 9:00 – 10:30am PST; 12:00 – 1:30pm EST
Students gather bi-weekly on Tuesdays for a live online video conference led by our core or visiting faculty that may include meditation, a review of previously watched recorded lectures, whole group discussion and small group breakouts. These conferences are facilitated by Joe Loizzo, Diego Hangartner and CPP Director Rahshaana Green.
Intersession Retreat: January 6, 2024
There is an in-person, daylong retreat at Tibet House NY which will introduce the practice of self-compassion and loving kindness. (The retreat will have virtual access for those who cannot attend in person. This retreat will be held online if the cohort is not able to meet in person due to restrictions in place because of COVID-19.)
Spring Retreat: February 23 – 25, 2024
This in-person retreat at Landguet Ried Center for Mindful Living with Drs. Joe Loizzo and Diego Hangartner will explore the nuances of integrating the powerful insights, methods and ethos of mindfulness-based personal and communal healing with the whole range of caregiving disciplines, focusing on their potential impact on professional development and professional ethics as well as the pitfalls of spiritual bypassing and cultural appropriation. (The retreat will have virtual access for those who cannot attend in person. This retreat will be held online if the cohort is not able to meet in person due to restrictions in place because of COVID-19.)
Extracurricular Offerings
- Optional weekly practice field, peer-led meditation and group sharing
- Optional weekly process field, peer-led study and discussion group
- Office hours with Nalanda Institute faculty
Program Requirements
Outside of participating in live meetings, students are expected to maintain a daily meditation practice based on the Mindfulness Year curriculum, read required texts, and watch weekly recorded lectures. Students work on a capstone project throughout the year, guide meditation practices, and reflect on both.
Continuing Education Credits
24 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available for the Mindfulness Year 2023–2024. See below for more Information.
Application
Tuition: $3,400 per year (does not include retreat accommodations).
Financial aid is available for those who qualify. Flexible payment plans are available.
Applications are open now with rolling admissions.
Please contact CPP Director Rahshaana Green with any questions rahshaana@nalandainstitute.org
Continuing Education Credits
12 Continuing Education Credits (CEs) are available per retreat (fall and spring) for The Mindfulness Year 2023–2024.
Information on Continuing Education Credit for Health Professionals:
- CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Academy (SCA) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Academy is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Spiritual Competency Academy maintains responsibility for this program and its content..
- The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
- LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFTs, and other mental health professionals from states other than California need to check with their state licensing board as to whether or not they accept programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
- SCA is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California. RNs must retain their certificate of attendance for 4 years after the course concludes.
- For questions about receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact Rahshaana Green at rahshaana@nalandainstitute.org. For questions about CE, contact Spiritual Competency Academy at info@spiritualcompetencyacademy.com.
Learning Objectives Fall Retreat (12 credits)
At the end of the program, participants will be better able to...
- Describe the first and second truths of suffering
- Describe the third and fourth truths of suffering
- Describe the concept of dependent origination
- List the three disciplines
- Describe the first and second foci of mindfulness
- Describe the third and fourth foci of mindfulness
- Describe loving-kindness meditation
- List the healing insights of mindfulness for each of the four foci of mindfulness
Core Faculty
Joe Loizzo, MD, PhD is a Harvard-trained contemplative psychotherapist, Buddhist scholar, and author with over four decades experience integrating Indo-Tibetan mind science and healing arts into modern neuropsychology, psychotherapy, and clinical research. He is founder and academic director of the Nalanda Institute, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and a clinician in private practice in Manhattan. Joe is the author of numerous scholarly review articles on contemplative neuropsychiatry and psychotherapy. He is the author of the comprehensive textbook, Sustainable Happiness: The Mind Science Of Well-Being, Altruism, and Inspiration. He is executive editor of Advances in Contemplative Psychotherapy: Accelerating Healing and Transformation, a groundbreaking collection of essays by pioneers of the fast-emerging and highly promising new field of contemplative psychotherapy.
Pilar Jennings, PhD, is a psychoanalyst focused on the clinical applications of Buddhist meditation who has been working with patients and their families through the Harlem Family Institute since 2004. She was awarded her PhD in Psychiatry and Religion from Union Theological Seminary, a Masters in medical anthropology from Columbia University, and a Bachelors in interdisciplinary writing from Barnard College of Columbia University. Dr. Jennings is the author of Mixing Minds: The Power of Relationship in Psychoanalysis and Buddhism and To Heal a Wounded Heart: The Transformative Power of Buddhism and Psychotherapy in Action. Currently, she is a researcher at the Columbia University Center for Study of Science and Religion and Co-chair of the Columbia Faculty Seminar on the Memory and Savery, where she explores the intergenerational transmission of trauma.
Diego Hangartner, PhD, PCC, is a clinical pharmacologist and certified coach (PCC), using neuroscientific, performance and clinical scientific insights, combining them to strengthen mental fitness and wellbeing. He spent many years at the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in India, studying, translating and publishing several Tibetan works, and organized many large events with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Asia, Europe and the USA. Diego was COO of Mind and Life Institute in the US and co-founder and director of Mind and Life Institute in Europe until 2015. Today, he continues his research and teaching with the Max Planck Institute, The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich University of Applied Sciences, and is a lecturer at the Business School of the University St.Gallen.
Rahshaana Green, MBA, PMP, RYT, is the Director of the Live Learning Contemplative Psychotherapy Program. She is a coach and business consultant with expertise in Business Development, Marketing, and Strategy in Healthcare and Science. She is also a yoga/meditation teacher specialized in working with injured, aging, and perinatal clients. Green received her BA in Biophysical Chemistry from Dartmouth College, her MBA from University of Texas-Austin, and her foundational yoga training with Ana Forrest. She teaches mindfulness and compassion through meditation and yoga to corporate, group, and private clients and is passionate about empowering others to cultivate well-being and resilience.
Geri Loizzo is Nalanda Institute’s Director of Programming. She is also a meditation faculty member and has served on the Institute’s board of directors since 2007. She’s had a regular practice of Hatha Yoga since 1982 and since 2006 has studied with Nalanda Institute Yoga Faculty, Mary Reilly Nichols. In addition, Loizzo has been studying and practicing Tibetan meditation since 1999, and has been leading weekly morning meditations at the Institute since 2011. Her mentors include Khyabje Gelek Rimpoche, Venerable Robina Courtin, and Kathleen McDonald.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main differences between the Live Learning and the Blended Learning programs?
The Live Learning program meets online weekly on Thursdays from 6:00 – 8:30pm EST and includes live lectures from visiting faculty via Zoom with visiting faculty members. The tuition for this program is $4,500 (tuition does not include accommodations for retreats).
The Blended Learning program meets online every other week on Tuesdays from 6:00 – 7:30pm CET; 9:00 – 10:30am PST; 12:00 – 1:30pm EST. Students watch and discuss recordings of visiting faculty lectures. The tuition for the program is $3,400 (tuition does not include accommodations for in-person retreats).
I see that enrollment is now beginning for the “Mindfulness Year.” Do I also need to take the “Compassion Year” and "Embodiment Year"?
No, you do not have to take all three years. Certificates are awarded each year, so participants are welcome to complete one, two or all three years based on their needs.
Is it best to start CPP with The Mindfulness, Compassion or Embodiment Year?
The Mindfulness and Compassion Years build complementary meditative and philosophical practices, and for some people the best entry is through compassion, for others it’s mindfulness. Compassion practice is encouraged for entry into the Embodiment Year. Entry into either program is determined on an individual basis, based on the applicant’s experience and exposure to meditative traditions.
I understand that video and audio recordings are made of all of the classes and retreats. How are those made available and are they included in my tuition? Will I have access to those recordings after the year is over?
Audio and video of all the lectures, as well as most of the assigned readings, are posted on our secure and private website. You will have access to the site after the initial retreat and this access continues for one year from the date of graduation from the course.
Is there an opportunity for supervision and peer support?
A supervision group which meets once monthly, provides feedback and peer support for confidential case studies with clients. This group is facilitated by Dr. Loizzo and the program director.
Can you say something about the capstone projects?
Capstone projects are a vital component of the program allowing students to integrate their coursework in meaningful ways — personal or professional. Guidelines for the projects are deliberately open and students work on their projects throughout the year. The projects reflect the diverse professional backgrounds of our students and take on many forms. They range from the academic to the creative. Past projects have incorporated clinical applications such as anxiety and eating disorders or have focused on specific population groups such as incarcerated youth. Many projects integrate mindfulness and/or compassion practice. We’ve seen theoretical papers, personal integration papers, websites offering information and tools about meditation, recordings for patients, and a variety of creative/artistic presentations of the material.
What is the practice field?
The practice field is a weekly online video conference conducted by students, to discuss the integration and application of meditation in one’s daily life. Alumni are also invited to participate in the practice field. This conference was originally created by a program graduate and learning consultant.
Is there homework? What would a typical homework assignment involve?
There are weekly readings—usually around 30 pages-assigned each week. Assignments include submitting a capstone proposal, status report, and summary throughout the year; meditation teach-backs (in which you lead a meditation for one person or a small group), as well as brief reflection papers on the teach-backs (two reflections per year).
How many hours outside of the classroom should I expect to put in?
That’s really up to you! Generally, participants spend about 1–2 hours per week with readings/ material, as well as their daily meditation practice commitment-which is individually determined.
One of the program’s learning modes is “group practice and process.” Can you say a bit more about that?
Each week our class begins with meditation practice for approximately 20-25 minutes. This is an integral part of the program that enables students to learn the various meditation practices. As a group, we discuss the meditation practices and explore any questions or concerns that come up as a way to deepen our learning and understanding. Additionally, we provide time for smaller breakout groups that provide more time for students to share their experience and engage with the material.
Another of the program’s learning modes is a “daily personal practice of meditation.” Do I need to be an experienced meditator to be in the program?
Daily meditation practice is a cornerstone of the program that we encourage and support. We recommend that participants have a basic meditation practice upon entering into the program, but one does not have to be highly experienced. The program offers support to those seeking to develop a daily practice.
Does it matter what meditation tradition that I follow?
Absolutely not. The diversity of our students’ practices enriches us all. We have participants coming from many different meditation traditions, and strongly encourage students to maintain their practice and tradition while complementing it with the meditation practices of the program.
What is the application process?
Admissions are on a rolling basis. Prospective students are encouraged to apply early as the class does fill up.