This 6-week on line programme will be delivered by Dr Alan Maddock an experienced mental health social worker who is currently a lecturer in Psychology. Dr Maddock has developed this MBSWSC programme and is a trained mindfulness facilitator with over 10 years mindfulness meditation experience. He has several published research papers on the topic (below).
The programme is co-ordinated by BASW and funded by the Office of Social Services, Department of Health.
When - It will run on line weekly from 20th January 2026 to 24th February 2026 and participants need to ensure they can attend all dates below before applying.
Cost - This is a free programme available to anyone employed as a registered social work practitioner in Northern Ireland.
You are not required to be a BASW member to apply.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: ON COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAMME PARTICIPANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO USE THE NISCC CREDIT ACCUMULATION ROUTE TO CLAIM PROFESSIONAL IN PRACTICE CREDITS AT: https://portal.niscc.org/Professional-In-Practice/CAR WHERE THEY CAN RECORD LEARNING AND REFLECT ON THE IMPACT OF THE PROGRAMME.
Attendance at all sessions will provide a minimum of 9 hours CPD.
Please contact ProfDE@basw.co.uk for any queries.
Information and Booking
Training Specifics
Registrants must currently be employed as a registered social work practitioner in Northern Ireland.
The MBSWSC will be delivered on line over a 6-week period (see dates below).
Weekly sessions will be 1.5 hours in duration from 6 - 7.30pm.
Registrants must be available to attend all the dates below and have access to MS Teams.
The programme will be evaluated to inform research.
Places are limited and available on a first come first served basis.
Programme structure -
- Each session will cover social work practice related exercises and topics which will be examined within the context of mindfulness.
- Each session will introduce different mindfulness-based practices (e.g. mindful body scanning, mindful yoga) and psychoeducation on the potential role that mindfulness could play in both social work practice and self-care.
- Participants will be provided with psychoeducation on practical ways in which to apply the experiential learning attained from these practices when confronted with stressful personal and/or social work practice situations.
- The development of mindfulness is predicated upon regular and repeated practice, thus participants will be requested to engage in daily mindfulness-based homework exercises for 20 minutes per day, for 6 out of the 7 days, between sessions.
- Each session will include social work practice role plays and discussion. This will allow participants to have an opportunity to apply their evolving experiential learning to a social work case context.
Award
This programme was awarded a Queen’s University Belfast Digital Teaching Award in June 2021.
Dates
Tuesday 20th January 2026
Week 1: Introduction to mindfulness: theory and practice
Tuesday 27th January 2026
Week 2: Mindfulness for social work practice: Stress, the thinking process, avoidant coping, and decentering
Tuesday 3rd February 2026
Week 3: Approach coping: Attachment, aversion, negative thinking, and approach coping
Tuesday 10th February 2026
Week 4: Self-Compassion and Acceptance – the thinking process, approach coping, and staying present with social work service users
Tuesday 17th February 2026
Week 5: Mindfulness: supporting critical thinking, reflexivity and anti-oppressive social work practice (AOP)
Tuesday 24th February 2026
Week 6: Embedding mindfulness in our everyday lives and social work practice
Useful links:-
A randomised trial of Mindfulness-based Social Work and Self-Care with social workers. Current Psychology, 1-14. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-023-04410-w
The British Journal of Social Work, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcae011
Experiences of the Mindfulness-Based Social Work and Self-Care Programme: A Focus Group Study. Social Work in Public Health, 1-16. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19371918.2024.2325564
