Mission & Vision

The main objective of the MTAI is to promote and safeguard standards of best practice in the delivery of evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs), including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) courses in Ireland, and to foster the growth of the community of mindfulness teachers in their personal and professional development and practice.

Our Subsidiary Objectives

  • To support and protect the integrity of the teaching and the advancement of education for teachers and trainee teachers of evidence-based MBIs (e.g. MBSR and MBCT) in Ireland
  • To promote the profession of the teaching of evidence-based MBIs
  • To develop a Code of Ethics, Good Practice Guidelines and professional standards and good practice in the teaching of evidence-based MBIs
  • To maintain a database of all teacher members for the public
  • To disseminate information on evidence-based MBIs to the public and other interested parties
  • To liaise with health providers, other professional bodies and health insurance companies, to raise the profile of evidence-based MBIs in mainstream health and to promote the purpose and objectives of the MTAI
  • To form links with national and international professional bodies, to keep abreast of and participate in new developments in MBIs
  • To provide and support continuing professional development for members with regular retreats and training

Our Constitution

The MTAI was formally established as an independent non-profit organisation in 2018 with the signing of our constitution.

Mindfulness & Social Inclusion

The MTAI's Commitment to respecting Diversity

The MTAI is committed to respecting diversity and creating an inclusive environment for people from all backgrounds, regardless of socio-economic class, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical ability or education.

  • We recognise and are committed to learning about how certain societal and environmental structures favour some groups and discriminate against others, with serious implications for physical and mental health, and leading to significant discrepancies in life expectancy and infant mortality. We recognise that many groups are subjected to social injustice on a daily basis.
  • We are committed to learning about how to engage with and talk about the difficult issues that are often avoided in the mistaken belief that avoiding what may be painful will lead to harmony.
  • We are eager to engage with voices that have often been silenced or dismissed, and have not been part of our society’s dominant discourse.
  • We are committed to sharing mindfulness so that all of us have the opportunity to resource ourselves and to be of help in resourcing families and communities. Just as happiness is not an individual matter, neither is mindfulness. Mindfulness recognises that all life is deeply interwoven and that we all affect and are affected by the world around us.
  • We are committed to the inner and outer freedom of all beings.

In keeping with this commitment, the MTAI have set up an annual grant towards offering mindfulness to areas of less privilege.

This has included offering mindfulness courses by certified teacher members in services such as the Upper Springfield Development Trust Healthy Living Centre Belfast, supporting teachers working in these areas by offering grants towards their supervision, and offering scholarships to trainee teachers.