Working with Difficult Emotions (Difficult Emotions)

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The Basics

  • Price: The cost is $125 USD
  • Course Duration: 6 weeks
  • Location: Online
  • Content Availability: New content is provided weekly
  • Suggested Allocated Time: 2 to 3 hours per week
  • Educator Graduate Level Credits Availability: Yes
  • Prerequisite: Yes

In this article, learn more about:

What are the prerequisites for Working with Emotion?

Our Working with Difficult Emotions course is not a beginning mindfulness course. We ask that participants commit to an on-going, daily mindfulness practice and complete one of the following trainings:

  • 101: Mindfulness Foundations (preferred)
  • Mindfulness Fundamentals (previously offered by Mindful Schools)
  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (in person or online)
  • Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (in person or online)
  • Another (6-week or longer) online or in-person secular mindfulness course from an acknowledges provider (e.g. UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness, etc.)

Exceptions to this are made for long-time meditation practitioners who have sat at least one 3-day silent retreat in the last four years.

Unfortunately, the following trainings, modalities, and activities do not meet the prerequisite:

  • Yoga, Reiki, Transcendental Meditation
  • Any other meditation practice solely focused on mantra recitation
  • Reading mindfulness books

Even if you have a long practice history, 101: Mindfulness Foundations (or another secular mindfulness course) is highly recommended as part of your overall training program. It will ensure that you are "synced up" with the terms, language, and methods used in our trainings. 

How can I receive professional credits for this course?

Educators may apply for and receive Educator Graduate Level Credits after completing their course. Educator GLCs are offered through our partner organization, Courses 4 Teachers, an affiliate of University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA.

For more information, please see our article on professional credits.

For participants of our courses who cannot benefit from Educator GLCs, we recommend discussing our courses with your governing board to see if you can receive professional development credit for completing our trainings.

Often graduates will submit their Certificate of Completion to their governing board. Participants who complete any Mindful Schools course before the official end date will be eligible for a Certificate of Completion. The Certificate of Completion is generated during the Closing Activities of the course and will reflect the session of the course, the name of the Online Course Guide, and the number of hours allotted to the course.

How much time will I need to devote to the course each week?

For most participants, our Working with Difficult Emotions course takes between 2 to 3 hours per week.

When can I access the course material?

You can login and access the course any time, according to your own schedule. We release new content each week. This means that you won't be able to access week two of your course unless you've completed week one AND one week has passed since the course bagan.

Is the course self-paced? Can I go through it on my own schedule?

Unlike some online courses, Mindful Schools courses are designed with a set start date and a set end date. This allows us to more fully support your practice and your learning as you progress through the course with others, and with support from your Online Course Guide.

You're not required to be online at any specific time, and can work through the weekly course content at your own pace. That said, we highly recommend you keep up with the course from one week to the next to ensure you can interact with classmates and your Online Course Guide while learning the new material.

Please note, in order to be eligible for a Certificate of Completion, participants must complete the course before the set end date.

Extensions are not available for Working with Difficult Emotions.

What if I am unable to complete the course with the six weeks?

While we highly recommend participants keep up with the course from week to week, we understand that interruptions can occur. To assist with these interruptions, we do provide a two-week Grace Period after the six weeks of course content. During this Grace Period, the course will remain open and participants are able to complete course material.

However, the Online Course Guide will not be available to answer questions during the Grace Period. To ensure you will be able to take advantage of the Online Course Guide's support, it is important to remain current during the six weeks of course content.

Will I receive verification of course completion?

Participants of Working with Difficult Emotions who complete the course material before the official end date will be eligible for a Certificate of Completion. The Certificate of Completion is generated during the Closing Activities of the course and will reflect the session of the course, the name of the Online Course Guide, and the number of hours allotted to the course.

What will this course cover? What will I learn?

Working with Difficult Emotions offers an opportunity to deepen your mindfulness practice and enrich your emotional life, based on the latest scientific research on emotion. During the six weeks of content, participants will be guided through the following:

  • Week 1: Understanding Emotion & Practices to Soothe the Intensity of Feeling
  • Week 2: Emotion Regulation & Intimacy with Our Emotional Experience
  • Week 3: Worry, Anxiety & Mindfulness
  • Week 4: Skillfully Meeting Anger
  • Week 5: Self-criticism, Shame & The Wisdom of Kindness
  • Week 6: How Views of Self Influence Our Emotional Life

What does the coursework entail?

Working with Difficult Emotions includes a combination of video lectures, reading, and weekly assignments. The assignments include the following components:

  • Reading: Weekly lessons and insights from your Online Course Guide
  • Listening: One guided practice per week, ranging between 10 to 20 minutes
  • Lectures: One to three video lectures per week, 20-45 minutes in total
  • Writing: Roughly one to two short paragraphs per week
  • Practice: 20 minutes of daily seated mindfulness practice is highly recommended

Does this course include LIVE Sessions?

Working with Difficult Emotions includes two LIVE Sessions that take place in Week 3 and Week 6 of the course. LIVE Sessions are guided by and Online Course Guide and typically include a guided practice, a review of course concepts, and an opportunity to connect with other course participants. We strongly encourage you to attend the LIVE Sessions -- we often receive feedback from participants that the LIVE Sessions were a highlight of their course experience.

You can find the dates of the LIVE Sessions for your course session here. (These dates are subject to change if necessary. Please confirm dates when you enter your course.)

We highly recommend attending the LIVE Sessions, but if that is not possible, recordings of the session will be made available to all participants.

LIVE Session recordings are only viewable while the course is open. Recordings will not be included in the view-only course materials made available after the course closes. 

Will I receive ongoing access to the course materials?

Participants who complete Working with Difficult Emotions before the set end date will receive ongoing access to a view-only version of the course materials after the course ends.

Does this course qualify me to share or teach what I learn?

Working with Difficult Emotions is a personal practice course designed to deepen your personal practice and understanding of emotion, and to enrich your emotional life. This course is not designed to train or empower participants to teach or share the lessons and techniques with others.

Is financial assistance or scholarships available for this course?

No. At this time we are not able to offer financial assistance or scholarships for the Working with Difficult Emotions course.

 

Click here to register for Working with Difficult Emotions

 

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