New online master's degrees in Contemplative Psychology with mindfulness and compassion at Bangor University - watch this space!

Two new online master’s degrees are in development within the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University, both will be available from September 2026. These three-year programmes will be delivered fully online, with an optional summer in-person retreat, offering flexibility while maintaining the depth and integrity of embodied learning. The degrees will be developed and taught to the same high academic and practice standards for which Bangor University is internationally renowned.

If you would like to join a mailing list to receive updates about these exciting online mindfulness master's degrees please click here https://forms.office.com/e/X27GDDrAm1

Mindful work, meaningful life: What are we really doing here?

Join the authors of Mindfulness: The Basics to share discoveries about how mindfulness can help us live with more meaning in today’s fast-moving and uncertain world. 

This isn’t about escaping life’s challenges, but about showing up more fully within them — in our families, communities, studies, and the wider social systems that shape our lives. 

Together we’ll explore how mindfulness can steady us amid complexity, reconnect us with what matters, and open space for genuine presence and compassion in a changing world. 

An invitation to pause, reflect, and ask: what are we really doing here — and how might we live with greater awareness and heart?  

Date: 17 December 

Time: 12.30-1.30pm 

Location: Online 

Fee: Free 

Contact: Sophie Sansom (s.sansom@bangor.ac.uk) 

The Palgrave Handbook of Third-Wave Psychotherapies

The Palgrave Book of Third-Wave Psychotherapies, edited by Gemma Griffith (the co-director of the CMRP), and Wendy Li, Shauna Shapiro, and Zhuohong Zhu is now out!

This landmark volume brings together leading voices in contemporary therapeutic approaches, including chapter contributions from Bridgette O'Neill and Sophie Sansom at the CMRP. The book offers an accessible yet rigorous overview of third-wave developments -spanning mindfulness, compassion-based interventions, acceptance approaches, and more- highlighting the innovative research and teaching that underpin our work at Bangor. It’s an inspiring testament to the expertise within our community and a valuable resource for practitioners, students, and researchers alike.

Access it here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-00353-9

Mindful self-care at work 

We are pleased to announce that we will be offering a mindful self-care at work course on the following dates: Thursday 16 April to Thursday 25th May 2026, 4.45pm to 6pm. This course is designed to help navigate the unique demands and challenges of high-intensity workplaces with greater steadiness, effectiveness, and kindness. 

One year MBSR training with the Brahm Centre 

We are delighted to share that Module 2 of the year-long training programme has now been successfully delivered for our colleagues at Brahm Centre, Singapore, marking another meaningful step in strengthening capacity for sustainable, evidence-informed mindfulness teaching and practice. 

International Advanced MBSR teacher training

It was a huge privilege to guide an advanced MBSR training for teachers within the Iranian MBSR teaching community. The training was a wonderful meeting place of open- hearted scientific inquiry and the clarity and wisdom of Persian poetry.

Research: What do mindfulness teachers learn on retreat?

Latest research from the CMRP: We’re pleased to announce the publication of the journal article ‘The Experience of Silent Teacher-Led Residential Retreats During Mindfulness-Based Teacher Training’. This study brought together three Masters’ students theses projects, which investigated retreat experiences during mindfulness-based teacher training. Experienced retreat teachers and those training to teach MBPs were interviewed. There was a lot of consistency in the views expressed between the groups, and participants consistently emphasised the value of retreat participation in supporting teachers’ ability to deliver high-quality MBP teaching.