Hugh Byrne – Changing Unhealthy Habits Through Mindfulness: Skills Building in Clinical Practice

Outline

Habits and the Role of Mindfulness in Habit Change

• The brain processes that underpin how habits form and why habits are difficult to change
• The role of mindfulness in bringing what is automatic and unconscious into the light of awareness
• Different kinds of habits—including habits of wanting, aversion, distraction, and doing/ busyness—and how mindfulness can help transform each of these distinct patterns

The Power of Intention

• The importance of connecting with our deepest intentions—what matters most to us
• Identify the habits of thought, word, and action that are obstacles to happiness and well-being
• Make a specific commitment and take concrete steps to bring our behavior into alignment with our deepest aspirations

Harness Attention to Effect Habit Change

• Skills to train participants in moment-by-moment awareness to identify and work with habits
• Before they arise—by avoiding the triggers that activate them
• When they appear—learning to ‘ride the waves’ of challenging experiences
• After they manifest—meet ourselves and our actions with acceptance, kindness, and commitment if we have repeated an unhealthy habit

Cultivate Attitudes that Support Habit Change

• Acceptance of what’s unfolding—the ‘good, the bad, and the ugly’
• Kindness towards ourselves and our experience, as well as to others
• Curiosity or interest in what we are experiencing

Bring it All Home

• Practical tools and materials to integrate mindfulness into client’s daily lives
• Transform unhealthy habits
• Cultivate more beneficial ones when returning to everyday life