First Wednesday of each month for one year, starting on November 4 from 1:00 to 2:30pm ET. Offered for no cost to graduates of either the Professional Residential MBCT Teacher Training at Omega Institute in Oct. of 2026 or PBTA's virtual MBCT Professional Teacher Training Sept. 16 to Oct. 28
Join a community of practitioners in responding to challenges in clinical work &/ or strengthening skills for integrating Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) curriculum elements with exposure therapy interventions for those with symptoms of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and related conditions marked by Neuroticism. This training will include integration of curriculum elements from MBCT, MBSR, and the Brahma Vihara practices of Buddhist Psychology (compassion, joy, befriending, and equanimity) with behavioral exposure procedures including interoceptive, imaginal, in-vivo exposure, and formal behavioral experiments. Focus is on implementation and skill development for working with Neuroticism symptoms including Anxiety, Depression, Angry hostility, Vulnerability, Impulsivity, and Self-consciousness. These symptoms occur trans-diagnostically across anxiety and related disorders and may be treated with trans-therapeutic interventions.
A structured and intentional process for case consultation and skill development that integrates formal relational mindfulness practice with exposure therapy procedures and case conceptualization is used. This process supports focused and efficient conceptualization, creative insight, and intervention planning that is informed by the wisdom of the peer group with a formal mindfulness-based or related contemplative practice. This group also offers the opportunity to guide formal practices from the MBCT curriculum and receive feedback to enhance confidence and competence in guiding practices and the subsequent inquiry and emotional processing that follows. More about this approach to skill development in Molnar (2025) received by all registrants.
Who may attend and what if I need to miss meeting(s)?
Because of the integration of formal mindfulness practice with exposure therapy, only participants meeting the prerequisite of having completed a foundational training in one of the several evidence-based Mindfulness Programs (MBCT, MBSR, MC-CBT, etc.) may participate in this intermediate level training. The first two meetings will demonstrate the processes involved in Mindful and Compassionate Case Consultation and feedback practice with a focus on clinical cases with OCD, GAD, Panic, PTSD and Social Anxiety. No experience with relational mindfulness, exposure therapy, or behavioral experiments is required and resources will be offered for additional skill development. Exposure procedures, Relational Mindfulness, and emotional processing processes will be practiced and developed as part of this training. It is an option to participate without presenting a case or guiding a formal practice – all participants are asked to implement the mindful speaking and listening practice which strengthens the inquiry process that is part of MBCT and emotional processing that is integral to benefiting from exposure therapy, including behavioral experiments.
Required reading
Suggested Reading
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Second Edition 2nd Edition
The Mindful Way Workbook: An 8-Week Program to Free Yourself from Depression and Emotional Distress. This workbook can be purchased electronically or in hard copy
Baer, R., Crane, C., Miller, E., & Kuyken, W. (2019). Doing no harm in mindfulness-based programs: conceptual issues and empirical findings. Clinical psychology review, 71, 101-114.
Crane, R. S., Eames, C., Kuyken, W., Hastings, R. P., Williams, J. M. G., Bartley, T., ... & Surawy, C. (2013). Development and validation of the mindfulness-based interventions–teaching assessment criteria (MBI: TAC). Assessment, 20(6), 681-688.
Dimidjian, S., & Segal, Z. V. (2015). Prospects for a clinical science of mindfulness-based intervention. American Psychologist, 70(7), 593.
Goldfried, M. R. (2019). Obtaining consensus in psychotherapy: What holds us back?. American Psychologist, 74(4), 484.
Kramer, G. (2007). Insight dialogue: The interpersonal path to freedom. Shambhala Publications.
Levy, J., Dimidjian, S., & Segal, Z. V. (2026). A Critical Review and 10-Year Update on Prospects for a Clinical Science of Mindfulness-Based Intervention. Mindfulness, 1-15.
Molnar, C. (September, 2017). Playing in the ocean of awareness: Innovations in mindfulness training. The Pennsylvania Psychologist Quarterly, pages 16-17.
Molnar, C. (June, 2014). Peer groups as a reflecting pool for enhancing wisdom. The Pennsylvania Psychologist Quarterly, pages 9-10.
Molnar, C. (2026). Mindful Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Related Conditions. The Pennsylvania Psychologist Quarterly, pages 28-29.
Speed, B. C., Goldstein, B. L., & Goldfried, M. R. (2018). Assertiveness training: A forgotten evidence‐based treatment. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 25(1), e12216.
CE Learning Objectives
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
Describe the six steps of Mindful Case Consultation (MCC)
Describe how to Implement the Mindfulness-Based Interventions – Teaching & Learning Companion (MBI-TLC), during and between sessions, to enhance competence and identify areas of challenge that can benefit from peer consultation.
Observe and Practice Mindful Case Consultation and list two action steps that can be implemented in sessions with clients following it
Describe how mindful listening and speaking, in the role of a therapist, can enhance metacognition and self-compassion for the client.
Describe four processes that make exposure therapy mindful and distinguish it from traditional exposure therapy.
Describe the difference between an avoidance / aversion and an approach mode of relating with pleasant and unpleasant experience and how each can impact exposure therapy interventions
Describe three ways that integrating mindfulness with exposure therapy reduces the risk of relapse in chronic conditions marked by Neuroticism symptoms.
Describe three micro-skills practiced with the MBCT curriculum that can reduce emotion driven behaviors in anxiety and related conditions marked by intense fear
Describe two ways the regular three-step "breathing space" practice can support the effective implementation of exposure therapy sessions for both the client and clinician.
Describe how the responsive three-step "breathing space", when combined with "re-entry doors", can support the application of mindfulness skills and compassionate responding during and between exposure therapy sessions.
Describe how formal practice can be considered a micro-laboratory that supports exposure therapy and awareness of sensations, habitual mental phenomena, impulses for behaviors, and one’s intra-personal relationship to the emotion states composed of these elements.
Describe three examples of rationales for combining exposure therapy with MBCT.
Describe how to integrate nourishing and depleting event logs into therapy to support identification of factors associated with relapse prevention and self-kindness intra-personally.
Describe the physiological outcome of fighting or attempting to eliminate unwanted internal experiences and how it contrasts with allowing one’s unwanted experiences and relating with kindness to the self.
Describe the role of equanimity in mindful exposure therapy
Describe the role of compassion in mindful exposure therapy
List three ways MBCT is integrative as described in Goldfried (2019).
Explain what is meant by having an assertive relationship intra-personally to respond to unpleasant mental and physical experiences and reduce depletion states.
About Presenters
Chris Molnar, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and clinical investigator, founded Mindful Exposure Therapy for Anxiety and Psychological Wellness Center (META Center) in 2007. She completed post-doctoral fellowship training in traumatic stress, neuroscience, and psycho-physiology and is an expert in the assessment and treatment of anxiety, OCD, PTSD, emotional, and stress-related conditions using evidence-based practices. She teaches both Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and has also developed adaptations for highly distressed clients, using Relational Mindfulness Practices (RBPs), to meet the needs of people in both individual and group therapy settings. At META Center, she offers integrative interventions grounded in findings about the brain, emotion, and learning to facilitate mental and behavioral habit change, even in the face of severe distress. Before founding META Center, she served as a clinical investigator and therapist supported by grants from the National Institute of Health and other agencies. She is also on the editorial board of Behavior Therapy and serves the public in many ways, through professional presentations, workshops, publications, and affiliations.
“Chris Molnar, Ph.D. offers a high quality MBCT training that adheres to the principles of participant experiential learning and treatment fidelity” ~ Zindel Segal, Ph.D., co-creator of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
Alissa S. Yamasaki, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and the founder of Ayama Psychotherapy, located in Lemont, PA. Her practice has gained a positive local reputation for its mindful and collaborative business practices, psychotherapists who are especially effective in the area of health and mind-body conditions, and wellness events for health and wellness providers.
Dr. Yamasaki's clinical expertise focuses on the treatment of chronic and complex anxiety, as well as insomnia. Her earliest study of the mind-body connection was as an undergraduate in an exercise psychophysiology lab investigating the effects of physical activity on how people feel and think. Dr. Yamasaki earned her Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2006 and completed her internship at Albany Medical Consortium. Her current practices reflect her belief in the importance of being fully present while drawing from empirically-driven interventions. She utilizes a blend of CBT and relational approaches, including mindfulness-based interventions. Dr. Yamasaki attended the 5-day Mindfulness-Based teacher training retreat with Chris Molnar, Ph.D., in 2022, which sparked both the deepening of her mindfulness practices and greater effectiveness in the therapy room.
Target Audience
This presentation is intended for licensed mental health professionals and advanced graduate student trainees seeking licensure. The instructional level of this presentation is INTERMEDIATE.
Note: This workshop requires attendees to have completed MBCT or a related program (MBSR, MBRP, MC-CBT) as a prerequisite to participate. If any questions please contact chris@molnarpsychology.com
Continuing Education
