Department of Medicine

Division of Preventive & Behavioral Medicine

Clinical Services

THE CENTER FOR MINDFULNESS IN MEDICINE, HEALTH CARE, AND SOCIETY

For more than three decades, the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society has pioneered the investigation and integration of mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness-based practices into mainstream medicine, health care and the broader society.

Clinical Care/Transformational Patient Education

The Center's acclaimed Stress Reduction Clinic is the clinic of origin of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). For thirty-two years, foundational meditation and mind-body clinical research has been conducted via the Center’s 8-week Stress Reduction Program. To date 19,000 participants have completed this 8-week program at UMass. They have been referred by more than 5,000 physicians and, as well, via self-referral. World wide, tens of thousands of patients have completed MBSR programs as developed at the Center.

Academic Medical and Professional Education, Training, and Innovation

• Academic Medical Education: For more than two decades, Center faculty members with appointments in the Department of Medicine have actively engaged in both undergraduate and graduate medical education. Center faculty and staff professionals initiated the formal introduction of mindfulness and MBSR for medical students and residents at UMass in 1987. 
• Professional Education and Training: Oasis Institute, houses the Center’s professional education and training programs. Grounded in mindfulness and its application and integration into a range of professional disciplines, since 1981, more than 10,000 healthcare professionals and educators from 34 countries and five continents have participated in CME education and training programs through Oasis.

Annual International Scientific Conference

Since 2003, the Center has hosted an annual international scientific conference on mindfulness. This meeting draws presenters, clinicians, researchers and educators from around the world. The 9th annual meeting will convene March 30-April 3, 2011 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Research

Since 1979, the Center has been committed to rigorous scientific research. To date, more than 100 scientific papers, books, book chapters, monographs, training manuals and abstracts about mindfulness and MBSR have been produced by Center faculty and staff.

For more information

Please visit our web site or call us at (508) 856-2656.