Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT, is a California-based psychotherapist currently in private practice in the Bay Area. She adapted the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program typically for adults for an adolescent population, and is the founder and creator of Stressed Teens, a program using the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T) program. MBSR-T has proven to be an efficacious and evidence-based program for adolescents as demonstrated through her research published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 2009 and in Psychological Assessment in 2011. She conducts trainings, workshops and conferences on MBSR/MBSR-T with a variety of populations including professionals, teachers, parents, and teens in the U.S. and internationally. A more recent area of work is in bringing mindfulness into the California Elementary School system through her role as a member of the Research Advisory Board for Mindful Schools and assessed the effectiveness of such a program. She is also exploring brain-imaging work at Stanford University with adolescents who practice MBSR-T. Ms. Biegel is interested in expanding MBSR-T into other teen populations in a variety of settings while assessing potential efficacy, and dispensing the MBSR-T curriculum so that professionals trained in MBSR-T can utilize this intervention in their own work. Through MBSR-T, it is intended that adolescents will reduce their pain and suffering and improve their overall functioning and quality of life. Ms. Biegel participates on the Board of a number of related organizations: Mind Body Awareness Project (MBA), Association for Mindfulness in Education (AME), Mindfulness in Education Network (MiEN), Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme). Her first book, a workbook, entitled, The Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens: Mindfulness Skills to Help You Deal With Stress, is currently available as well as her audio CD, Being. Please visit her website, www.stressedteens.com, www.facebook.com/stressedteens, and follow her on Twitter @stressedteens. Enjoy her blog on Mindful.org On Teen Life and her work on Sharecare.com as a Sharecare expert.
