This training is for you if you work with people with cancer (which could include in medical, social, hospice, cancer support, psychological, community or other contexts), are interested in mindfulness, and if you’d like to see what it might offer you personally as well as in relation to your work.
Working with people with cancer is demanding on many levels and while new cancer treatments offer the potential of improved outcomes, the nature of the disease inevitably brings anxiety and uncertainty for patients and their families. This can also impact on those who work with them, however rewarding the work may also be.
Other factors, such as strained resources, can also add pressure – whichever role or context you’re in.
There’s promising research to show that mindfulness may support the well-being of those working in such contexts (Lomas et al, 2018, Kriakous et al, 2021) and this training is designed to help you learn:
- How to cultivate self-care
- Ways to bring mindfulness into your work, with your patient or client
- How the practice of mindfulness may benefit you, your team and your patients / clients
The workshop will include a 2-hour orientation and 2-days of training.
“The best thing about this workshop was that participants all had some connection to cancer, which gave a richness between receiving the course material and one another.“
Previous course participant
Mindfulness-informed Cancer Care
What to expect on this course
This course is predominantly experiential in nature, with some didactic teaching included. Both course leaders are very experienced in the field of mindfulness and cancer – through their years of teaching people with cancer and training teachers.
There’ll be opportunities to learn alongside your peers in discussion, reflection, and mindfulness practice in small breakout groups and in the large group process. We’ll discuss, explore and learn when it might be helpful to choose to respond to situations with a mindfulness practice and how we might do this. Brief practices will be introduced which are simple, portable and very accessible to use – both at home and at work.
By the end of the programme, you’ll have explored:
- A grounding practice – and when and how this might be used
- How to bring internal awareness into responses to self and others
- An understanding and experience of ‘coming back’ to a personal choice of anchor in the body and / or the breath
- The role of intention in relation to sustaining a connection to mindfulness practice at home and at work
- The approach of ‘turning towards’ what’s happening – whether pleasant or challenging – and learning how this might be helpful
- The practice of cultivating a friendly approach to experience and including awareness of what we enjoy and what resources us
- Reconnecting to what matters to us and exploring the role this has in day-to-day life and work
- A number of very brief straightforward mindful practices and how to weave them into your day – including learning how to share these safely with patients / clients when appropriate
Full course dates
The orientation session will take place on 07 November 2025 13:00 – 15:00 UK Time. The training will take place on 08 & 09 November 2025 08:00 – 16:00 UK Time.
What others have said
The best things about the workshop were:
“The facilitators created a warm, safe space for the group to participate.”
“The participants all having some connection to cancer which gave a richness between receiving the course material and one another.”
“The insight I gained into my own practices and how to transfer them to others.”
“I didn’t want it to end!”
Entry criteria: who can apply for this course?
You can apply for this course if you:
- Are working in field of cancer care in healthcare, in the statutory, private, or third sector – with a broad definition of healthcare to include allied fields – or wanting to do so in the future.
- Have an interest in mindfulness but there’s no need to have had any previous direct experience or training in mindfulness.
- Are able to speak, write, and understand English to a level where you can fully take part in all parts of the training without the need for extra translation support.
- Have strong internet, the right equipment and the technical skills to join an online training programme via Zoom, with the video always on.
- Have a private indoor space where you can take part in the training without being interrupted or overheard by other people.
Please note:
- This course is NOT designed for those primarily interested in mindfulness and cancer for personal / family illness reasons.
- This is a professional skills-based course, NOT a MBCT-Ca teacher training.
