Cheetah House is a non-profit organization that aims to provide resources to individuals who have experienced or are experiencing meditation-related difficulties (and their families). Specifically, Cheetah House provides information about meditation-related difficulties, individual consultations, and support groups. Cheetah House also provides educational trainings to meditation teachers, clinicians, educators and mindfulness providers about the range of challenging experiences that can occur in the context of meditation practice.
Cheetah House is committed to providing support services directly to contemplatives in need as well as to the ongoing exploration and dissemination of knowledge about contemplative practices in the modern world.
Cheetah House Support Groups
Meditators-in-distress often feel profoundly isolated and ashamed, thinking they are the only ones who have ever had negative effects from meditating. The Cheetah House support groups brings together meditators from around the world to tell their stories, share resources, provide hope, community and friendship.
Currently there are two types of support groups:
Cheetah House Facebook Support Group:
This chat-based group is free and open to anyone who identifies as a meditator-in-distress. Peer-led, with periodic input from Cheetah House administrators.
Weekly Support with the Cheetah House Care Team
This online group is led by members of the Cheetah House Care Team and meets once per week year-round. Group members commit to ongoing attendance in order to build community, and provide support to others as part of their healing. Fees are based on a sliding scale according to household income. An individual consultation with any member of the Care Team is required prior to joining this group.
Individual Consultation with Dr. Britton
For meditators who are encountering difficulties, and/or their families. Discuss with Dr. Britton the nature and potential causes of your specific experiences, research about other meditators with similar experiences, and what approaches, treatments or remedies they found helpful or unhelpful. Consultations are done over skype and last 1 hour.
Professional Consultation with Dr. Britton and/or Dr. Lindahl
For meditation teachers, mindfulness organizations, and dharma centers that are interested in improving the safety of their organizations. Consultations are tailored to individual needs but may include:
Creating a safety plan (including screening, monitoring, management)
Trauma-informed mindfulness modifications
Curriculum and materials review
Is my mindfulness program sufficiently secular?
Is my program evidence-based?
Meditation Safety Toolbox
Drs. Britton and Lindahl partner with trauma-sensitive mindfulness expert David Treleaven to offer a 3-day training for meditation teachers, mindfulness providers, clinicians, and educators. The workshop develops the competencies one needs to work skillfully with meditation-related challenges and includes:
detailed descriptions of different types of meditation-related challenges;
the circumstances that contribute to their impact and duration;
the different ways they are interpreted and appraised;
and best practices for working with challenges as a meditation practitioner or a meditation teacher.;
legal and liability issues around informed consent, screening, and monitoring
Access to the Meditation Safety Toolbox
The following organizations have hosted FDNH trainings:
Cheetah House Facebook Page
Meet the extended international Cheetah House community on the Cheetah House Facebook Page. Contains news, chat room for meditators-in-distress and meditation-related difficulties research group.