Speaker(s):

Thomas Kuciejczyk-Kernan, MD

Rajeev John, MSW, LCSW

Presentation: Self-Care is fundamental to healthcare, both physical and emotional. As chronic stress and trauma affect one’s physiological and emotional functioning and well-being, it is important that mind-body wellness and building resilience is part of the health care. Mind-body medicine is an integrative approach that focuses on the interaction between the mind and the body and the powerful ways these interactions affect our emotional and physical health. The core of this approach is self-care with mind-body skills that relieve toxic stress, help heal from trauma, and build resilience. Mind-Body skills are the most effective evidence-based way to reduce the adverse effects of stress which contributes to all chronic illness, mental and physical.

In this approach, self-care skills such as various types of meditations and mindfulness practices are used to foster self-awareness and positive self-direction. This presentation will explain how active meditation and mindfulness meditations are useful in improving physical and emotional well-being. We will explain the physiology and how such self-care practices can reverse the adverse effects of stress and trauma. We will also describe how we use this approach at Affinia healthcare to promote wellness among our patients. This ninety-minute presentation will also include experiencing two of these skills, one quiet mindfulness meditation and one active meditation.

Objectives:

  • Describe Mind-Body Medicine and how this self-care approach can be used for stress management, addressing chronic conditions, trauma and building resilience
  • Describe physiology of stress and trauma and how they affect physical and emotional well-being as well as the physiology of stress management
  • Instruct how to use two different types of self-care skills approach to promote wellness and to build resilience

Slides and Handouts:

Kuciejczyk Kernan and John_STI 2018- Using Self Care Skills-A Mind Body Skills Approach-final