What is a mindfulness session?

These specific mindfulness sessions are designed to provide psychological and emotional support to help people to cope better, and to facilitate psychological adaptation when dealing with difficult situations.

Mindfulness itself, is generally described as a type of meditation that cultivates the ability to be in the present moment in an accepting and non-judgmental way (Kabat-Zinn, 2004). Although mindfulness has its origins in secular Buddhism (Gira, 1989), its practice involves several skills that can be learned by people from different religious with distinct belief systems (Baer & Krietemeyer, 2006), it is a neutral approach.

In these mindfulness sessions you are to experience stress reduction, to obtain new coping skills and to live your life in accordance with what is meaningful for you.

Are you living abroad, and missing a certain way of life?

You may benefit from mindfulness as a psychological intervention. That is because it can include assistance with grieving processes.

My previous experience providing bereavement support, also includes grief from a loved one who passed away and the experience of living abroad. I personally have experienced that, but I also rely on the knowledge I’ve learned from a number of workshops that I attended in Cambridge (UK), and from empirical research in the use of mindfulness to assist you based on a scientific background.

How does it work?

In your first mindfulness session, I get to know you and work on a personalised session and a plan for further sessions as you wish.

In the first part of each session I’ll invite you to share with me your current situation, what bothers you, and if there are any personal goal you’d like to reach. Then I’ll use my expertise in mindfulness as a psychological intervention to assist you in trying to cope mindfully with that issue or to reach that goal.

Our conversations during the sessions will be kept confidential. I’ll listen to you without judgment and you can be totally honest.

Your first session is free of charge!

Resources that come with the sessions

After each session, I will give you a nourishing and personalised mindfulness meditation audio, for you to listen to it until I see you for the next session.

All the mindfulness sessions that you will receive, are based on published research and empirical evidence, as they are adapted from my previous work during my PhD.

How many and for how long?

You can have as many sessions as you wish. It can be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. It’s your choice. You can stop the treatment at any time.

And if you find that a single session was enough for you, that is fine too. There is no commitment to a certain number of sessions.

Each session takes about 60 minutes.

Where and when?

The sessions are given virtually via video chat (like Skype or Zoom call). You won’t have to worry about taking time out of your schedules to leave your place.

Apart from regular working hours, I also offer after-hours appointments - between 5 pm and 9 pm (the latest session would start at 8 pm). I am based in New Zealand working under Auckland time.

To book your online session, please email me at zimmermannff@gmail.com

How I’ve helped?

Currently, I deliver this mindfulness program to anyone who wishes to reach a certain goal with it or to better cope with difficult situations in life.

My current patients/clients reported that it has helped them to develop a state of calmness and peace when needed. It helped them to face certain things in life that where hard to work on, as it was rooted in their childhood. It helped them to have a more positive perspective of things that were seen as intimidating or difficult to cope with. In addition, it helped them to become more independent and self-manage their own difficulties in a more healthy way. They know that they can count on the mindful coping skills that they have acquired.

Here are some quotes from current clients:

As an anxious person, I never thought I would be able to stay up to 20 minutes submerged in the present moment! I realized it is an act of self-love.

Mindfulness meditation led me to understand my own time, to think before I act, to breath and act prudently according to who I am.

I would spend up to two hours doing the session and meditating. I know that everything is about time, calmness and breathing. Healing is a process.

The cool thing about all this, about all the discoveries, is that I didn’t do this alone, I couldn’t see myself without being guided to the mirror. I was so into a dark place, that when I heard a friendly voice saying close your eyes and breathe, I saw myself and so I came out of the dark.

After a few sessions I discovered that I did not know how to relax and did not allow myself to be happy.

Session after session I was diving into myself, and over the course of these months I understood the importance of every detail of my childhood and my life. I found out that many of "my fears" were not mine.

For me, the mindfulness sessions are like a remodelling process. You have to deconstruct yourself to become get and more beautiful. Let go of who you used to be, to become who you really want to be.

Previously, I trialled this mindfulness program as a psychological intervention to patients with cancer (as part of my PhD study in New Zealand). Therefore it was positioned in the paradigm and methods of health psychology.

Here are some quotes from participants:

It’s helped me to handle things and it’s not just cancer, what will be will be with the cancer. I can’t control that. The best I can do is be positive up here about it

I enjoyed just chatting around it. I talked about some of the issues that were there so it cleared the mud and that’s the key positive for me. Like a mud cleaner. In these conversations, I was expressing my problems more often

I think that I found a balance, time for myself and the others

That’s why I like it, your mindfulness sessions. If I’m feeling anxious or if I can’t sleep or something I’ll put it on - play it on my phone

With you, I know that you practice it and you understand it so it makes it easier for me. You’re not just reading a paper or setting me up with this CD, you actually join in. And it helps keep me focused on, and I appreciate that

You can access more content related to what people said about this mindfulness-based intervention in my published articles here.

Pricing

Your first session is free of charge! After that, each session (of about 60 minutes) costs NZ$ 65. This price includes nourishing mindfulness meditation audios, personalised for you to listen to it at home.

I’ve chosen to charge less than the average primarily, because I want to reach and attend those on a low income as well. In order to work with what I love, I thought that I should make it affordable to reach more people in need of emotional support. In addition, these mindfulness sessions have helped people and so this job became meaningful to me :)

Payments

Your first session is free of charge, independently if you wish to continue with the next sessions or not. 1 free session is my gift to you!

From your second session onwards, the payments are made per session, via bank transferring and before your session is due to start.

If you wish to pay it monthly or fortnightly in advanced, this is possible too.

Invoice

Once your session is paid, you’ll receive your invoice by email.

In a time of a pandemic disease

In a time of a pandemic disease I recorded some lives (in Portuguese language) for the channel # SuperAção (in Brazil), that are available on YouTube. Access through the links below:

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