Mindful Behavior Change (MBC) is an 8-week group program developed by faculty at the Center for Mindfulness and Compassion (CMC). Inspired by Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other 8-week mindfulness-based programs, MBC was developed with a trauma-informed approach and includes specific components for applying mindfulness to support health behavior change. MBC uses a gentle approach, explicitly focusing on cultivating mindfulness as it enhances inner warmth and self-compassion. MBC also trains people to use mindfulness interpersonally to support behavior change. The MBC curriculum has been tested in the Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) group format in three Mindful-PC randomized controlled trial research studies. MBC has been demonstrated to enhance activation in brain regions involved in emotion regulation and body awareness associated with goal-directed behavior

While change can be difficult, initiating and maintaining a behavior change is key to healthy living. This includes prevention and management of many chronic medical and mental health conditions. MBC helps participants become curious about and aware of their autopilot mode and come into a relationship with reality that allows for more choice and possibility to emerge in a healing direction.

MBC groups have been delivered in multiple languages and with diverse groups of people. Studies have shown that people in these MBC groups have ~3x times the odds of initiating a behavior change that they identified would make them healthier or more likely to thrive as compared to a standard mindfulness introduction. This may be because the MBC program was designed by expert faculty and clinical scientists as part of the National Institutes of Health Science of Behavior Change Initiative specifically to help people enhance their capacity for emotion regulation, self-compassion, while developing a more trusting relationship with their body, even in the midst of stress, illness, and life transition. MBC is a next generation, evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Intervention (MBI) and a prototype for a warm approach to learning mindfulness that is designed to be easily integrated into healthcare visits or community settings.

Note: You will see this course referenced in some articles and published studies as Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC), Mindful-PC, and/or Mindfulness Training for Living Well (MTLW). The program’s curriculum has not changed, but the names of the different formats of the program refer to how the curriculum was adapted to be delivered in different contexts. Now all formats have been consolidated under MBC.

We currently offer MBC in two formats:

• 8-week MBC course presented live by teachers, online and open to all, as a self-pay model. This course is available at CMC and continuing education credits are available for an additional cost. *This course was formerly known as MTLW.

• 9-week MBC curriculum presented in live online groups through our Mindful Mental Health Service led by primary care or behavioral health providers, open to Massachusetts residents and patients of Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA), reimbursable through insurance.*This program was formerly known as MTPC as part of the Mindful-PC project.

We also teach others how to lead an MBC course:

• MBC Group Leader Training (MBC-GLT), the fundamental intensive course that teaches you how to become an MBC group leader and how to deliver the program.

• MBC Group Leader Certification Pathway provides the additional training and mentoring necessary to teach MBC groups on your own, resulting in Group Leader Certification.

• *These courses were formerly known as MTPC GLT and MTPC Group Leader Training Certification Pathway.