This is a recording of a Michigan State University Extension webinar that originally aired on December 16, 2015.  

Adolescence is a period marked by great challenges and opportunities in areas of cognitive, social and emotional development. This webinar focuses on some of these developmental changes and challenges, including those in the adolescent brain that could be highly responsive to mindfulness practice. Mindfulness, the present-moment, nonjudgmental awareness of experience, can be cultivated through practice and has the potential to enhance well-being in young people. This webinar reviews selected research related to mindfulness for adolescents and introduces a research-based curriculum called Learning to BREATHE for teaching mindfulness in schools, clinics, after-school programs and other youth settings. The presenter is Patricia (Trish) Broderick, a research associate at the Penn State Prevention Research Center and founder and former director of the Stress Reduction Center at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.  She holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from Villanova University and a Ph.D. in School Psychology from Temple University. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified school psychologist (K-12), certified school counselor (K-12) and a graduate of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) advanced practicum at the Center for Mindfulness at UMASS. She is co-principal investigator on a recent grant from the US Department of Education to study mindfulness in public schools, an advisory board member for CASEL on the intersection of social and emotional learning and mindfulness and a member of the American Mindfulness Research Association (AMRA) practice board. She is the co-author of a developmental psychology textbook, entitled The Life Span: Human Development for Helping Professionals and the author of Learning to BREATHE: A Mindfulness Curriculum for Adolescents.

This webinar was developed as part of Be SAFE: Safe, Affirming and Fair Environments, a Michigan State University Extension initiative designed to help communities learn about and address issues of bullying, bias and harassment in the lives of young people. Be SAFE taps the wisdom and resiliency of young people and invites youth and adults to work in partnership to create relationships and settings that are physically and emotionally safe. Be SAFE includes a comprehensive curriculum, which is designed for use within out-of-school time settings as well as middle school settings and which includes more than 30 engaging and experiential activities designed for group learning.  

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Michigan State University is committed to providing equal opportunity for participation in all programs, services and activities. Accommodations for persons with disabilities may be requested by contacting the webinar contact at olsenj@anr.msu.edu.  

MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or veteran status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ray Hammerschmidt, Interim Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. This information is for educational purposes only. Reference to commercial products or trade names does not imply endorsement by MSU Extension or bias against those not mentioned.