The Mindfulness Toolbox

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Author

Donald Altman, MA, LPC Related seminars and products

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Donald Altman, MA, LPC, is a psychotherapist, award-winning writer, former Buddhist monk, teacher and an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling. He is also a faculty member of the Interpersonal Neurobiology program at Portland State University and teaches various classes blending mindfulness and Interpersonal Neurobiology.

A prolific writer whose career spans more than 25 years, Donald has authored several pioneering books on mindfulness, beginning with his 1998 Art of the Inner Meal. (HarperOne, 1999). His book, The Mindfulness Code (New World Library, 2010) was named as “One of the Best Spiritual Books of 2010.” He has also authored The Mindfulness Toolbox for Relationships: 50 Practical Tips, Tools & Handouts for Building Compassionate Connections (PESI, 2018), Stay Mindful & Color: Find Calm, Clarity and Happiness (PESI, 2016), Meal By Meal (New World Library, 2004), Living Kindness (Moon Lake Media, 2009), One Minute Mindfulness (New World Library, 2011), The Joy Compass (New Harbinger, 2012), The Mindfulness Toolbox: 50 Practical Tips, Tools & Handouts for Anxiety, Depression, Stress & Pain (PESI, 2014) and, 101 Mindful Ways to Build Resilience: Cultivate Calm, Clarity, Optimism & Happiness Each Day (PESI, 2015).

In addition to his books, Donald was a staff writer for an EMMY-Award winning children’s television show (“The Magic Door”, CBS Chicago), won an American Medical Writer’s Association award, co-created the first interactive comic strip on America Online, and has had articles appear in New Age Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and Independent Business Magazine, among others.

Donald reaches out to the professional community by serving as the vice president of The Center for Mindful Eating. Donald works extensively with mindful meditation in his own life, as well as offering these tools to others through his books and classes. He teaches mindfulness and spiritual values around the country. He is dedicated to bringing these ancient practices in tune with modern living and to invite wellness into our stress-filled lives. Donald is also a member of the Burma Buddhist Association. An avid motorcyclist, he enjoys riding his motorcycle along the beautiful Oregon coast.

 

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial: Donald Altman is in private practice. He is an Adjunct Faculty member of the Interpersonal Neurobiology Program at Portland State University. Mr. Altman receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Donald Altman has no relevant non-financial relationship to disclose.

Endorsements

PRAISE FOR THE MINDFULNESS TOOLBOX:

“The ceaselessly creative Donald Altman, in his never-ending quest to make mindfulness practice accessible to anyone motivated to learn it, has once again broached new ground in elaborating simple, useful techniques for applying mindfulness in everyday life.  The Mindfulness Toolbox is a veritable wonderland of user-friendly implements of mindfulness practice, all laid out to maximize a new (and maybe not-so-new) practitioner's ability to effectively use applied mindfulness.  The Mindfulness Toolbox will be a tremendous aid and benefit to all people who practice and teach mindfulness.”

~ Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., author of Brain Lock and You Are Not Your Brain

“There is an old Russian fable about a swan, a pike and a crawfish pulling a horse cart in three different directions, with a predictable result: the cart is hopelessly stuck. Sometimes I think of the field of psychotherapy as too being pulled in all kinds of different directions. Each school of thought, each wave of thinking, each clinical breakthrough not only moves the field along some relative continuum of evolution, but also asunder. The novelty junkies that we all are, we don’t miss a beat: we rush to update and to upgrade our clinical software with each CEU we earn. Clinician-authors such Donald Altman pull the field back together. They hold it grounded and unified around such ancient centers of therapeutic gravity as awareness and mindfulness. Altman’s collection of tips and tools on how to introduce clients to the know-how of mindfulness has a powerfully anchoring force of field-tested clinical wisdom. Each of Altman’s 50 mindfulness tips is a spoke on a wheel of wellbeing. Roll with it, clinician, if you feel professionally stuck.”

~ Pavel Somov, Ph.D., author of Anger Management Jumpstart, Present Perfect and Eating the Moment

"Much like any healing prescription, The Mindfulness Toolbox skillfully reduces pain and fosters balance by getting to the root cause of the symptoms. If you want to expand your mindfulness repertoire, you won’t find a more complete and practical set of key techniques, handouts, and ideas. You’ll even be guided as to which tools fit together, such as tools for sensing the body, tools for meditation, and tools for getting into the present moment. With a large dose of awareness, clarity, precision, simplicity, and insight, Donald Altman has given us a potent and worthwhile medicine for inviting well-being, acceptance, and inner peace."

~ Paul Harrison, creator and producer of The Mindfulness Movie, and author of Where's My Zen? and The Ten Paradoxes: The Science of Where's My Zen?

“Mindfulness has swept through the mental health profession in the past several decades and plays a major role in important modalities such as DBT, ACT, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention and others. Whether or not you are trained in any of these modalities, The Mindfulness Toolbox by Donald Altman is the resource you need to strengthen your use of mindfulness with a wide variety of clients. Altman is an experienced and loving guide to lead you through the mindfulness landscape. His new book presents a comprehensive set of highly practical, effective techniques, tools and handouts that will enable you to skillfully utilize mindfulness in your clinical work. The easy-to-use interventions for anxiety, depression, stress and pain are described in clear language that reflects the kindness and beauty of mindfulness. The Mindfulness Toolbox will not only improve your effectiveness with clients, it will also enable you to more fully integrate into your personal life the emotional, psychological and spiritual wealth offered by mindfulness practice. If you have any interest in mindfulness, you should have The Mindfulness Toolbox as a resource.”

~ Terry Fralich, LPC, JD, author of The Five Core Skills of Mindfulness and Cultivating Lasting Happiness

“Donald Altman’s newest book, The Mindfulness Toolbox, is an important work for how it will reduce emotional and physical suffering in the world. Highly practical and well-organized, the book tackles the key areas of stress, anxiety, depression, and pain. The evident care and attention given to the guided scripts and handouts will help build the therapeutic relationship with patients—all the while guiding them gently and persistently toward a more expansive awareness and a deepened sense of self-compassion and self-acceptance. I highly recommend it."

~ Christopher Kennedy Lawford, best-selling author, Symptoms of Withdrawal, Recover to Live, and What Addicts Know

"In an era of high popularity for anything labeled with the word "Mindfulness", Altman has written a user-friendly and practical book that is as fun to read as it is helpful. He provides great handouts and suggestions for how to describe mindfulness to clients so that they can gain peace of mind when feeling anxious and optimism in the face of depression. Highly recommended."

~ John B. Arden, Ph.D., author of the Brain Bible

"This is a must-have book for every therapist using mindfulness approaches with clients.  From the 10 'Tips' thru the 40 'Tools', Donald Altman shares his considerable wisdom, along with the sense of respect for both the client -- and the therapist.  At the same time, the material is presented in a light and very usable style, from the clear outlines to the many client handouts."

~ Jean L. Kristeller, Ph.D., research and clinical psychologist, and developer of Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT)