I offer supervision in English and French. I was certified as an MBSR teacher and MBSR trainer by the Center for Mindfulness (CFM), UMass Medical School (USA). I collaborated with the CFM in the MBSR curriculum (2017), which gave me an in-depth knowledge of the MBSR program.
Throughout my training and continuing education, I had the good fortune to be trained, mentored and accompanied by many key people to whom I have lots of gratitude, including Melissa Blacker, Rebecca Crane, Pam Erdmann, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Florence Meleo-Meyer, Elana Rosenbaum, Saki Santorelli, Bob Stahl, Carolyn West, and many others.
After teaching MBCT, I have been teaching MBSR since 2009, pioneering this program to French-speaking Europe. I have been training MBSR teachers since 2015 at the “Institut Pleine Conscience” (Belgium) which I founded. I also collaborate with several mindfulness training organisations in France (University of Metz), in Switzerland (University of Geneva) and in the USA (CFM-University of California San Diego).
Prior to this, I taught health psychology and social psychology at the Université Charles-de-Gaulle, Lille (France), and I worked as a cognitive-behavioural psychotherapist specialised in health psychology and chronic pain.
As a mindfulness teacher and trainer, I am particularly interested by the exploration of non-harming in our teaching. This includes reflecting on making our programs inclusive (cultural background, gender identity and sexual preferences, being trauma-sensitive), the willingness to not-know and the responsibility to continue to develop as a practitioner and mindfulness teacher, to keep on investigating the universality of the body and mind as well as honouring the specificity of each person’s singularity. Inquiring into our own inner experience is a great source of learning.
Qualifications
Certified MBSR trainer, Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 2019. This several-year extensive training also included apprenticeships and internships at the CFM up to 3 months.
- Certified MBSR teacher, Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, University of Massachusetts Medical School, 2012
- MBCT teacher training with Zindel Segal, Pierre Philippot and Lucio Bizzini, Switzerland, 2008
- “Diplôme d’études spécialisées” [post-graduate diploma] in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, University of Louvain, 2007
- D. in Psychology, University of Louvain, 2002
- Master Degree in Psychology, University of Louvain, 1998
Teaching-Training Specialisms
- As a trainer, I have a good knowledge of MBSR for the general public
- Trauma-sensitive mindfulness
- MBI : TAC and MBI : TLC
- Buddhist Psychology – with a secular approach – as one of the foundations of MBSR · I completed a 3-year Retreat Teacher Training Program with Bodhi College
- Online teaching
Supervision Experience
- Supervision of mindfulness-based programs teachers:
- 2012-2019 for the Center for Mindfulness, University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
- 2012-current for French-speaking teachers trained in various training organizsations (Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland)
- 2019-current for the Center for Mindfulness, University of San Diego California (USA)
- 2012-current for the the University of Louvain (Belgium), “Mindfulness-based Psychological Intervention” training based on the MBCT protocol, for clinical psychologists introducing mindfulness in their practice either on one-on-one basis or for small groups
- 2012-current for the Institut Pleine Conscience, where I offer individual supervision and group supervision
Supervision Specialisms
- MBSR
- Buddhist psychology foundations in MBSR
- Online teaching
- Trauma-sensitive mindfulness
Supervision Rates
1 hour individual session – £60 (70€)
1/2 hour individual session – £30 (35€)
Please see our Supervision FAQs for more details on the cost of supervision.
Personal Practice
I first practiced mindfulness in 2003 through an MBCT class that I took as I was being trained as a CBT therapist. I have been practicing mindfulness since then and yoga since 2011. Today, my personal practice includes the main practices as taught in MBSR and MBCT, and also other practices which infuse my everyday day life. Mindfulness is a compass for me to meet the beauty and the difficult, and to nourish wholesome qualities of the heart and mind.
I am accompanied in my practice by mentors in the insight meditation tradition. Going on silent retreats several times a year is a great source of deepening my inner exploration.
I also find great inspiration to my practice when dwelling in nature and letting my senses being touched, and also when gardening and when watching or riding our horses in the landscapes of Belgium and France.
Publications
Griffith, G.M., Crane, R.S., Baer, R., Fernandez E., Giommi, F., Herbette, G., Koerbel, L. (2021). Implementing the Mindfulness-Based Interventions; Teaching assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) in mindfulness-based teacher training. Global Advances in Health and Medicine
Sansom, S.A., Crane, R.S., Evans A., Fernandez E., Griffith, G.M., Herbette, G., Koerbel, L., Octigan, K., Yiangou, A. (2020). A guide to skillful feedback in mindfulness-based training and assessement. Online Publication. http://mbitac.bangor.ac.uk/documents/MBI-TAC-Feedback-Resource-2020-Final.pdf
Santorelli, S., Meleo-Meyer, F., Koerbel, L., Kabat-Zinn, J., Blacker, M., Herbette, G., Fulwiler, C. (2017). Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) authorized curriculum guide. Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society (CFM), University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Herbette, G. and Guilmot, P. (2011). Cheval et pleine conscience: éveiller les sens, apprivoiser les émotions, ancrer sa présence. In I. Kotsou & A. Heeren (Eds.), Pleine conscience et acceptation (pp.141-177). Bruxelles: De Boeck
Herbette, G., Guilmot, P., & Heeren, A. (2010). Horses and mindfulness: How meditation and relationship with horses can enhance well-being and coping with stress and emotions. Psychomed, 1-2, 47.
Herbette, G., & Guilmot, P. (2009, August). Horses and mindfulness: How meditation and relationship with horses can teach us about healing and serenity. Paper presented at the International Congress of the FRDI, Münster, Germany.
Herbette, G. and Rimé, B. (2004). Verbalization of emotion in chronic pain patients and their psychological adjustment. Journal of Health Psychology, 9, 661 – 676
Rimé, B., Herbette, G., & Corsini, S. (2004). The social sharing of emotion. Illusory and real benefits of talking about emotional experiences. In I. Nyklicek, L. Temoshok, & A. Vingerhoets (Eds.), Emotional expression and health: advances in theory, assessment and clinical applications (pp. 29 – 42). New York: Brunner-Routledge
Philippot, P., Schaefer, A., & Herbette, G. (2003). Consequences of specific processing of emotional information: impact of general versus specific autobiographical memory priming on emotion elicitation, Emotion, 3, 270 – 283.
Rimé, B., Corsini, S., & Herbette, G. (2002). Emotion, verbal expression, and the social sharing of emotion. S. R. Fussell (Ed.), The verbal communication of emotions: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 185 – 208). New York: Routledge.
Further info
I can be contacted through email at gwenola@pleine-conscience.be
Gwénola’s website: www.pleine-conscience.be
