30^th World Summit on Positive Psychology, Mindfulness, Psychotherapy and Philosophy March 18-19, 2019 Chicago, Illinois, USA | DoubleTree by Hilton Chicago North Shore

Biography:

Uvinie Lubecki is the Founder and CEO of Leading Through Connection, which trains leaders and supports organizations to build a culture of connection and compassion. Previously, she was the managing director for Dalai Lama Fellows, where she developed the curriculum for bringing mindfulness and compassion into leading social change. Before Dalai Lama Fellows, she leads strategy for Relay Health at McKesson, incubated businesses for Aetna, and worked as a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting. At LTC, she draws from her leadership experiences to craft practical and realistic mindfulness and compassion tools and practices for leaders. She holds an MPH from the Harvard School of Public Health and a BA in Neurobiology and Behavior from Cornell University. She’s originally from Sri Lanka and was raised in New York, Nigeria, and Jordan.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: A recent survey on 1,000 leaders across 800 organizations has shown that while 91% of leaders believe compassion is important to their leadership, 80% do not know how to lead with compassion. Researchers have shown that mindfulness and compassion can be trained and when applied to interactions, they can improve wellbeing, resilience, and interactions with others. However, mindfulness and compassion have thus far largely been applied to personal wellbeing and stress reduction. Few tools have been developed that translate and apply these techniques to leadership.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Building on the curriculum I developed at Dalai Lama Fellows, which applies universal values championed by the Dalai Lama to leading social change, we’ve created a new secular training program for seasoned leaders in the corporate and non-profit sectors. Thus far, leaders from organizations such as Macy’s, Eileen Fisher, Celgene, and Pachamama Alliance amongst others have participated in these training. The training is 2-day intensive workshops followed by 5 weeks of practice and a concluding 1.5-hour webinar.

Conclusion & Significance: Leaders demonstrated improvements in self-awareness, ability to regulate emotions, ability to extend caring and compassion to others, improvements in their ability to interact with others, and the ability to provide constructive feedback with compassion. Additional questions on how to apply compassion to top-down processes to influence culture are being explored.

Biography:

Ashley Cosentino EdD, LCPC, NCC earned a Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision and a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling from Governors State University. Currently, she is enrolled in a Ph.D. Organizational Leadership program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Her experiences include being an Associate Director and Interim Director of training for the Office of Placement and Training where she oversees the practicum/internship training for Masters and Doctoral students. She is responsible for orienting the members of the learning community to the training site search, application, interviewing, and acceptance processes. She oversees the evaluation of student performance by site supervisors and faculty and is responsible for developing training sites and regularly evaluating the quality of training. Currently, she is also an Assistant Professor in the Counselor Education Department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Overall, she considers herself a clinician, supervisor, researcher, leader, and educator.

Abstract:

The image of what it means to be a good mom has consistently been a part of a prescribed performance of gender for women.  According to this mother ideal, the mother must be the primary caregiver of children because men cannot be relied upon the duty. Child rearing logically requires extensive time, energy, and material resources, and the children are priceless and incompatible with paid labor (Hays, 996).  Based on the latest U.S. Bureau of Census (2018) most mothers are employed.  Around 60% of mothers with children under six are employed compared to 80% with teenagers. When it comes to mothering, guilt can emerge frequently because of the pressure to be perfect and the perpetual feelings of inadequacy in attaining perfection. That is guilt and shame stem from the very discourse of motherhood that measures women against an unattainable and therefore problematic ideal of perfection.  While the link between perfectionistic standards and negative outcomes has been established, less is known about how the dominant ideology of being a “perfect mother affects mothers’ psychological well-being.  Research on working mothers has argued that they utilize cognitive acrobatics in order to manage the tension between employment and the dominant mother ideology (Johnston & Swansonn, 2007). A woman’s yearning for balance in the most desired and hardest to achieve factor (Sullivan & Mainiero, 2006). The balance notion declares the need for balance across multiple areas of life.  This means a woman may decline work until her children are in elementary school. Supple (2007) found in her qualitative research with working mothers that women placed a high value on self, work, and motherhood, and relied on support systems to obtain a balanced life.  However, the literature does not specify how the role of parenting and family affects the leadership expansion of working mothers.

Biography:

Abstract:

Social care lecturing staff at Ireland’s Limerick Institute of Technology have devised a personal development curriculum and pedagogy for social care learners for each year of their study. This integrated model can be traced back to elements of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. The module aims to equip social care learners to work enabling adults and children in a range of social care settings, who are sometimes marginalized and vulnerable, to be empowered to recognize their own potential equivalent to how social care learners recognize theirs during their engagement with the personal development modules. Personal development is often a transformative process within the relationship dyad between lecturer and learner who co-create this pedagogical learning space. A person-centered methodology is at the heart of this teaching. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of this module for social care work graduates. The purpose of the research is to discover if personal development provides beneficial learning from the perspective of social care work graduates and their in-service supervisors. Engagement with new ideas and research findings throughout my Ph.D. study will facilitate curriculum evaluation and change if necessary.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Stems from an Interpretive/constructivist qualitative case study research design. Preliminary findings from a pilot study outline learners’ positive experiences both professionally and personally with the module.

Conclusions: From the pilot study suggest continuing the study and recommendations to date advise continuing with interviews and solicited diaries but not focus groups.

Biography:

Pamela Tremblay has her expertise in Integrative EMDR and passion for improving the mindset of others. Her integrative approach creates new pathways when looking at mental health treatments. She has built her theory after 20 years of experience in counseling, teaching, and evaluating college-age young adults. Her Ph.D. is in Holistic Health and Nutrition and her specialists & master’s degrees are in Counseling and Educational Psychology.

Abstract:

Few practitioners are informed of the importance of the connection between the basic needs of the physical body and how it affects the mindset while they understand the connection between those same basic needs and how it affects the physical body. We need to become more aware of the connection between what happens to the physical body and how it affects the mind when taking a holistic approach to treating anxiety and depression. It is no longer effective to just medicate the symptoms of depression and anxiety without looking at the physical behaviors such as sleep, water intake, gut-brain axis and untreated traumas that contribute to the emotional response which is at the core of anxiety and depression. Many research topics support the correlation of sleep, water intake, the importance of the gut-brain axis and untreated traumas with anxiety and depression but few practitioners practice this holistic approach. The link between sleep and mood has been documented for years now. We now know people who struggle with sleeping issues have a greater chance to have clinical depression and are even more likely to have signs of clinical anxiety. As practitioners, we need to look outside the box if medications do not help our clients find the peace of mind they desire. In this workshop, I will define eight key elements that support a healthy mindset and how a holistic approach can be extremely helpful in treating young adults who are suffering from anxiety and depression including some natural therapies that are just as effective as medication.

Biography:

Abstract:

Biography:

Kelsie-Marie Offenwanger is a post-doctoral fellow at the Marshfield Clinic Health System. She was recently awarded the Early Career Psychologist Credentialing Scholarship by the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. Her training and expertise have focused on children, adolescents, and families across the community and school-based settings. She conducted her dissertation on the trajectory of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). She has presented nationally on NSSI to a wide array of audiences across the educational, medical, community, and clinical settings. She performs a variety of comprehensive psychological services in her day to day practice. She participates on multidisciplinary teams and conducts psychological evaluations. In addition, she provides individual and family psychotherapy to children and adolescents who exhibit a wide range of social, emotional and behavioral concerns. She is actively involved within the Center for Community Health Advancement and provides evidence-based interventions to enhance the functioning of at-risk youth and their families.

Abstract:

Research shows that limited access to resources and behavioral health problems are forces of economic disadvantage for rural youth. While socioeconomic status and stress challenge available social supports that can intervene against disadvantaged access to community resources, a rising body of evidence suggests that enhancing sense belongingness and self-efficacy can improve social, emotional and behavioral outcomes. For 3 years prior, a psychologist facilitated an after-school group that taught self-regulation skills to youth. The group received overwhelmingly positive qualitative feedback from participants and staff, which prompted the current study. The current study extends prior work and will evaluate its impact. Theoretical and empirical origins formed the foundation for the program that consists of in-person and technology-based interventions. The study provides 8 to 15 year-olds an opportunity to strengthen their emotional regulation skills within an after-school setting. The study will test social-emotional learning interventions that aim to create a sense of belonging and acceptance among youth who are likely to feel misunderstood or excluded. The study will examine behavioral and psychosocial outcomes that align with CASEL’s core competencies. Students receive the intervention during the fall, winter or spring of an academic year. Data is collected in pre- and post- surveys completed by students, caregivers, and staff across the school and community settings. Preliminary quantitative data has been encouraging. Participants, caregivers, and staff reported improved psychosocial functioning across settings. The current study hopes to serve as a stepping-stone for vulnerable youth who are at risk of poor behavioral, academic and health outcomes.

Biography:

Patricia Garcia is a second-year neuropsychology fellow. She completed her first year of residency at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and worked in the outpatient neuropsychology clinic where she did neuropsychological evaluations of adults and geriatric patients, particularly assisting in the diagnosis of dementia at the outpatient neuropsychology center and at the memory disorder’s clinic in the neurology department. She is now at Ryder Trauma Center located in Jackson Memorial Hospital, working primarily in the neurorehabilitation inpatient unit where she has the opportunity to assess and treat patients with traumatic brain injuries, cerebrovascular accidents, brain tumors, epilepsy, brain infections, among other neurological conditions, and communicate findings to an interdisciplinary team of professionals. She also provides consultative services at the neurosurgery ICU, trauma ICU, and the outpatient neuropsychology clinics. Her research interests include cross-cultural neuropsychology, AD biomarkers, psychiatric symptoms, and cultural variables in the assessment of dementia.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: The most promising biomarkers to date for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) detection include Positron Emission Tomography of metabolic brain changes or cortical b-amyloid deposition, structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging for brain atrophy, and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Volumetric changes in the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus have been noted in patients with AD and patients with mild cognitive impairment. However, the effects of the amyloid load on cognitive performance are less understood. Further studies looking at cultural variables in the context of AD are imperative given the current and projected growth of ethnic minorities in the US. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between AD biomarkers (regional brain atrophy and amyloid aggregation) with cognitive performance among Hispanic and white non-Hispanic older adults.

Methodology: Cross-sectional analyses were conducted among clinical samples, totaling 182 participants. Subgroups were created based on participants’ cognitive diagnosis and ethnicity. Pearson correlations between AD biomarkers and neuropsychological tests were initially performed. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to develop a model for predicting the effects of medial temporal atrophy (MTA) and amyloid deposition on several cognitive tasks.

Findings: A positive correlation was noted between the right parahippocampal area and HVLT Immediate (β=0.494, p=0.005) in healthy Hispanics. Among Hispanics with dementia, a negative correlation between amyloid and HVLT delayed recall was found (β=-0.585, p=0.005). Regression analyses revealed that among healthy Hispanics, a significant predictive relationship was noted between HVLT Immediate and right-parahippocampus, R²=0.244, F(1,15)=4.837, p=<0.005. Among Hispanics with dementia, amyloid deposition significantly predicted performance on the HVLT delayed, R²=0.342, F(1,10)= 5.190, p=<0.005.

Conclusion & Significance: The small variance accounted by these biomarkers invites researchers and clinicians to identify other contributing factors to neurocognitive performance. Future studies should examine individual cultural factors contributing to these findings among clinical samples.

Biography:

Wahab Shahbaz is a Ph.D. student at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand. His research interests include training and development of employees in the organizations. In particular, he is looking at the phenomenon of mindfulness and its application in the organizations. He intends to develop a mindfulness-based training program for organizations to improve the performance and well-being of employees.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: In simplest terms, mindfulness is a state of being present in a particular way. In the organizations, the employee’s state of mindfulness can provide workplace benefits in terms of employee’s well-being, relationships, and performance. Although the literature on mindfulness has focused on the workplace benefits of mindfulness but relatively limited is known about the individual and work-related factors that might facilitate or hinder the state of mindfulness. In other words, it is not clear how specific context can impact the state mindfulness of employees. The purpose of this study is to explore the individual context to identify the factors associated with the state mindfulness of employees.

Methodology: The study adopts a phenomenological approach as a research strategy to understand the influence of context on the employee’s mindfulness from the perspectives and experiences of individuals in the workplace. The study intends to interview 30 professionals including faculty and staff of different Universities in New Zealand. The academic professionals will have a diversity of mindfulness experiences in terms of training and/or practice of mindfulness meditation. The interviews will be tape recorded after taking consent from the participants. The interview data will be analyzed using thematic analysis.

Significance: The findings of the study will expend literature on the context of mindfulness by underlining the individual and organizational factors that might impact the employee’s state of mindfulness. Practically, the study may benefit the organizational leaders to foster the state mindfulness of employees by incorporating the favorable and impeding the unfavorable contextual factors in order to obtain workplace benefits.

Biography:

Saranyan Senthelal is a third-year medical student from St. George’s University and aspires to be psychiatrist.

Abstract:

The use of cannabis in medicine is no new encounter. In fact, there is evidence that describes the use of medical cannabis dating back to 400 AD. More recently, cannabis was described as a medicine in the United States Pharmacopoeia in 1850. It was not until many years later, under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, that cannabis became a prohibited substance in the United States. In Canada, cannabis was prohibited in 1923 under the Narcotics Drug Act Amendment Bill. Despite these attempted restrictions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), cannabis is the most commonly abused illicit drug worldwide. With the legalization of cannabis in Canada, there has been an increasing interest regarding the psychological and physiological effects of cannabis. As cannabis use continues to steadily increase across Canada, it is imperative that healthcare providers are aware of the potential indications or contraindications that this substance may provide for their patients. This review attempts to detail and highlight the necessary information found in the literature regarding the possible role of cannabis in psychiatric medicine. It should be noted that research in the field of medical cannabis is extremely limited at this point in time so it is difficult for any definitive conclusions to be made from the literature. The options that healthcare providers have surrounding the administration of medical cannabis include the use of cannabidiol (CBD) or delta–9–tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Although both compounds are derived from the same plant and are associated with the endocannabinoid system in the body, they have very different psychopharmacological effects. THC binds to the cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors in the brain, producing the psychoactive effects commonly described by cannabis users as euphoric. CBD on the other hand, has very little interaction with CB1 receptors, if at all. In fact, CBD has been shown to even block these CB1 receptors and disrupt the THC and CB1 interaction. Although the literature remains limited, the use of cannabis in adolescents has not been shown to prove any significant benefit with respect to the treatment of behavioral and intellectual disability. On the contrary, there have been unique cases that have shown the benefit of cannabis for refractory Tourette disorder and Autism Spectrum disorder. In adults, cannabis has been shown to increase the severity of depressive episodes in Major Depressive Disorder (p=0.1). However, multiple cases have shown a relief of depressive and manic episodes in patients with Bipolar disorder. Next, psychotic disorders are of particular interest as rodent studies and a few cases have demonstrated the anti-psychotic properties of cannabis in individuals already diagnosed with schizophrenia. Interestingly, multiple randomized controlled trials have shown an increased predilection for schizophrenia disorder in cannabis smoking individuals. The literature regarding anxiety disorders is limited but a randomized controlled trial showed relief of anxiety in patients with Social Anxiety Disorder (p=0.012), however, only a few case reports have shown similar findings in General Anxiety Disorder. Lastly, there has been improvement noted with cannabis use in both Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Biography:

Jaclyn Costello received an MFA in Fiction & Poetry Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she now teaches multidisciplinary seminars in the Honors College and leads a meditation program called ‘Mindfulness in the Mountains.’

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: When asked about the sickness of the West, the beloved shamans say, “It’s quite simple. You have severed your connection with Spirit. Unless you reconnect with Spirit and do so soon, you’re going to bring the whole house of cards down around your heads and ours.”

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Our team is currently participating in a fully immersive study of sacred, ceremonial, indigenous healing techniques within a variety of South American and North American lineages. Through our studies in Brazil, Peru, Mexico, and on our home soil—the United States—we are witnessing first-hand the cultural fusion of ancient practices within modern society. Our approach arrives from three angles: given Jaclyn Costello’s background in Comparative Spiritual Studies and Creative Writing, her research is shared poetically, exploring indigenous healing techniques and how they work upon one’s spirit. Since Estefania Herrera has a background in Health Sciences, hers is a scientific approach, exploring the ways indigenous healing techniques work upon the body and how they are applicable to our current medical system. Alina Lindquist, with a background in Anthropology and Yoga, is researching the body-mind connection in indigenous medicine and how this connection leads to a greater sense of overall well-being within the individual.

Findings: Shamans, especially those from the Amazon, are currently mounting a reverse missionary activity, hoping to heal the spiritual disconnect they witness in Westerners. Rightly or wrongly, many of these shamans believe the remedy for this disconnect to be sacred plant medicines such as Ayahuasca, “the vine of the soul.” It is our collective finding that plant- medicines, such as Ayahuasca, can be used in a respectful, ceremonial fashion to help Westerners reduce anxiety, heal from trauma, and harmoniously integrate all parts of themselves to build happier, more ‘conscious,’ more purposeful lives.

Biography:

Madelene Sta. Maria is currently teaching and doing research at De La Salle University in Manila. She teaches graduate courses in human development and her researches to include investigations on risk and protection mechanisms in adolescent development, on social networks among older adults, and on resilience among youth living on the streets. Her researches also cover the area community mental health interventions and programs. She is currently doing researches on teenage pregnancies and on the impact of transnational family structures on the development of left-behind children and on caregiving arrangements in the Filipino family. Her publications have been on the sociocultural approach to the study of the self, spiritual development, adolescent mental health, the socioemotional development in aging, global citizenship, and on youth-at-risk.

Abstract:

The research systematically reviewed the academic literature on well-being and resilience in the life periods of adolescence, adulthood, and later adulthood. The approach outlined by Whittemore and Knafl (2005) was used to guide the narrative review procedure. The appraisal process included a determination of theories, definitions, and contextual and psychological variables related to well-being and resilience. The search and appraisal yielded ca. 42 articles on adolescence, adulthood and later adulthood from the period of 2014-2017. The systematic review revealed differences in developmental contexts in which the positive psychological constructs gain significance in these life periods. A compensatory model of resilience is often used in studying resilience in adolescence, i.e., positive family relationships and community resources provide the young person with emotional support and a sense of safety to reduce the impact of adverse conditions. Resilience in adulthood is likewise marked by nurturing and supportive relationships. Resilience in later adulthood is evident when the individual exhibits the ability to access social networks to maintain everyday activities. Resilience is studied as an antecedent to wellbeing. However, there are differences in the means by which individuals within each period gain wellbeing. Adolescent wellbeing emerges from the individual’s interaction and engagement in multiple contexts of development. It is within these nurturing contexts where the young person develops assets, such as self-regulation and identity. While wellbeing in adulthood and later adulthood is also derived from positive social relationships, studies show that adult wellbeing is a consequence of abilities to develop personal strengths and resources. Wellbeing in later adulthood is gained through an individual’s capacity for social and physical mobility. In conclusion, processes in which the positive psychological constructs of wellbeing and resilience develop are closely associated with the outcome and tasks persons have to accomplish to optimally develop in a given life period.

Biography:

Lan Luo is currently a third-year undergraduate at Yale University who is triple majoring in Economics, Psychology, and Statistics & Data Science. His previous work experiences include systematically mapping the space of morality using machine learning, computational linguistics, and cognitive neuroscience, evaluating the impact of retirement on spending and consumption in light of prototypical life-cycle models that implicate consumption smoothing, evaluating cognitive ability in economic decision making as modulated by age, developing a case study on a financial intervention program in France, and analyzing census data with respect to policy decisions on trade bills.

Abstract:

This paper seeks to integrate perspectives from psychology, cognitive science, and behavioral economics to address how multiple selves theory relates to the science of pleasure. Drawing attention to one’s different selves can affect the experience of suffering, and more importantly, how and why someone may gain pleasure from pain. For instance, pain serves as a psychological anchor, emphasizing the awareness of one’s current self. This physical suffering may dissolve away the concerns of the future self, leaving the current self both intact and salient. However, under certain conditions, the current self can dematerialize in response to pain. This destruction of self creates an empty vessel of a human being, which can be filled with a new identity in extraordinary circumstances. Even without the complete destruction of self, reduced higher-level awareness could provide the current self with the possibility of seeking out entirely new abstract, conceptual representations. The author ends by proposing three precursors, which outline when such transformative experiences may occur.

Biography:

Lee Peitzu is currently an Assistant Professor in the counseling psychology field. At present, her research focuses on mindfulness related interventions, counseling and psychotherapy, the relationship between the mind and behavior, mindfulness-based group therapy, effective learning methods and the benefits of spiritual counseling.

Abstract:

Studies showed that the excessive use of the internet is caused by its high prevalence and harmfulness, attracting public attention gradually (Kruss, 2015). The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of mindfulness and wisdom intervention on college students’ internet addiction. Students are analyzed by attending two full weeks of intensive mindfulness and wisdom comprehensive meditation retreat. Samples are screened by using an internet addiction disorder diagnostic questionnaire (IAD-DQ). A quasi-experimental pretest and posttest design were used as the research design. Participants were required to complete the internet addiction questionnaire and subsidiary questionnaires about emotional control before and after the intervention. The finding showed that mindfulness and wisdom intervention appeared to be effective in reducing internet addiction and increasing the ability of self-control. In addition, researchers used the semi-structured interview method to ask the participants about their changes after the intervention. The participants reported positive changes, including the reduction of internet use, an increase of awareness, self-control, and concentration, and a more positive lifestyle. Hence, mindfulness and wisdom intervention appeared to be effective in reducing internet addiction.

Biography:

Nathan Burandt has his expertise in strength and conditioning, worksite wellness, and teaching.  His knowledge and experience has helped in creating a successful wellness program at Florida International University.  His abilities to reach out and connect with people come from years of coaching athletes and teaching those very athletes about positive lifestyles off the field.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Today more than ever a culture of well-being and resiliency in the workplace is needed.  Obesity is at an all-time high as well as its associated conditions; Heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer incidence rates continue to grow.  The National Health Expenditure (as of 2016) was $3.3 trillion or 17.9% of the Gross Domestic Product.  The U.S. spends more of its GDP on healthcare than any other nation, yet we are less healthy.  Mental health around the world continues to deteriorate.  The workplace is in ideal position to assist in combating these maladies.  Creating a culture of wellness and resiliency in the workplace allows for positive psychology, mindfulness, and well-being to take a central role in responding to stress and health issues in a healthy way such that goals are achieved at minimal psychological and physical cost.  It allows the individual to grow stronger and to build supports in place to reach their goals, mentally and physically.   This also allows the workplace assist in changing social determinants and environments to allow for healthy, happier people.

Biography:

Steven Hughes, M.Ed., is an Education Specialist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. He has worked in the mental health community and psychiatric hospital system facilitating educational programs in the area of Prevention and Management of Aggressive Behaviour (PMAB) and community safety programs with CAMH and the CTI Canadian Training Institute for over 30 years. As a life-long learner, he has interests in delivering educational programs pertaining to creating psychologically safe work environments that are characterized by optimal individual and team resilience and well-being. He has been a certified yoga teacher since 1985 specializing in yin yoga and yoga nidra. He integrates his interests that include transformative learning, positive psychology, dialogue methods, contemplative neuroscience, mindfulness, holotropic breathwork, and wellness-based modalities that assist individuals to cultivate self-awareness and unlock their full potential. All of his programs support learners to gently explore the edges of their personal growth boundaries and to experience new realms of self-discovery.

Abstract:

We know that in clinical populations in mental health, the prevalence rates of trauma is at 90% or more (National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, 2006) and it is reported by Mathieu (2011) that 60% of clinical staff working in Canadian healthcare environments report histories of trauma before they enter the helping profession (p. 13). In this 75-minute workshop participants will be introduced to the mind-body practice of yoga nidra (Lusk, 2015). This practice comes to us from the Yoga tradition. In recent years, there has been accumulating evidence that this practice is demonstrating therapeutic benefits in helping trauma survivors manage and support their healing and recovery journeys (Fritts & Khusid, 2014; Miller, 2015; Pence, 2014). The session will provide an overview of the practice and situate the practice within an embodied discipline that supports healing. Participants will begin to develop a comfortable stance of welcoming for all thoughts, feelings, and sensations and to distinguish between these qualities. Participants will have an opportunity to experience some of the layers that comprise the practice of yoga nidra. The foundational skillset is accessing the relaxation response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system to calm the stress-response system and reduce emotional over-reactivity (Benson & Proctor, 2012; Jerath, et al., 2006). The second skill set is gaining an orientation to interoceptive awareness and beginning to direct the breath (Brown & Gerbag, 2012; Craig, 2014; Marks-Tarlow, 2012). The third skillset invites one to create an imaginal inner sanctuary of safety (Fay, 2017; Brown & Elliott, 2016; Davenport, 2009; Fogel, 2009; Holmes, 2001; Mikulincer, Shaver, Sapir-Lavid & Avihou-Kanza, 2009; Yelling & White, 2011). Developing a safe sanctuary provides a platform for us to apprehend the emergence of presence, connectedness, and joy (Gilbert, 2009; Geller, 2017; Goleman & Davidson, 2017). The session will conclude with a group discussion to process the experience and allow time for questions, discussion and explore potential next steps.

Learning Objectives: (a) Experience and develop the skill of relaxing your physical body fully while the mind remains awake and focused. Clarify the difference between “spaciousness” versus “spaceyness” supporting the emergence of presence. (b) Distinguish between “thinking” and the “felt-sense of sensation”–sensing the flow of breath and the radiant sense of energy in the body. (c) Experience the imaginal environment via guided imagery to create an internal sense of safety and an enhanced self-efficacy by creating an inner safe sanctuary that can be accessed at any time as a way to ground and center one’s self.

The healing perspective surging underneath this session is in keeping with Carl Jung’s conception that we are all on a path seeking wholeness. This self-organizing process seeking expression, Jung referred to as individuation (Jung, 1966). This unfolding process posits that each of us is on a journey seeking the integration and healing of all of the “parts of ourselves” that have been alienated, repressed, or dissociated (Kalsched 2013; Siegel, 2016). This session provides a potential path for this unfolding odyssey.

Participatory Caution: The facilitators will work towards co-creating a psychologically safe, inclusive, and welcoming learning environment. However, some elements of the session may be potentially evocative for some individuals who have experienced trauma (especially hyper-arousal and dissociation) and who have significant challenges in managing anxiety. These experiences are not necessarily contraindications for participation—however, self-screening is important. Participation should be discussed with one’s therapist if one is currently in therapy.

Biography:

Thais Cristina Martino Sehn is a Fulbright and Capes Scholarship Grantee currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Design at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. As part of her doctoral program, she is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US. Previously, she worked as a Professor, teaching Graphic and Digital Design topics in two universities in Brazil, at PUCRS (2017) and UFPel (2014-2016). After that, she established her own graphic design studio Ame Studio Criativo. Now, she is studying Emotional Design, with the focus in positive psychology, and reading.

Abstract:

Nowadays, reading together is usually associated with an activity address for someone with difficulty to understand the writing codec, like the children, that is not alphabetized, or with people who have vision problems. However, it was a social activity between adults until the eighteen century (Williams, 2017). Sonneschein and Munsterman (2002) identified that the quality of affect interaction is the principal children`s motivation for the interesting in books. Likewise, Peixoto and Leal (2008) show that the activity offers pleasure also to the reader-adult, even if the reader does not have the habit of reading. The oxytocin is considered the hormone of love. Many studies show how the oxytocin changes in accordance with the activities and with who you are developing the action. Seltzer et al. (2010) demonstrates that the vocalization higher the levels of oxytocin in humans. The study proves that this hormone is produced in the same way with touch interaction or oral communication (without touch). Furthermore, Leslie et al. (2011) showed that the levels of oxytocin mushrooms with touch and vocal contact, but not change with a text message. The relation between the voice with the hormone was not tested yet between adults. The aim of this work is to do an experimental study, analyzing if it the level of oxytocin between couples will higher when they read out loud together, one for each other. This experiment will be done with a sample of 30 couples. The oxytocin of both (reading and listener) will be measured before and after the reading to analyze the change of the activity. The practice of reading out loud for a beloved one demands attention and dedication for both sides: the reader and the listener. Through the sharing reading, they might create a particular ritual to spend a moment that belongs only to them.

Biography:

Veronica Bucci is a Senior at Pawling High School in Pawling, New York and has researched Psychology for the past 3 years as part of the SUNY Albany Science Research course. She completed her first project involving teenagers and how they respond to stressful and anxious situations based on a variety of episodic memory tasks. She has successfully competed in numerous competitions with her research and has traveled to locations such as San Francisco, California, and Paris, France in order to present her various projects. After the success of her first project, SHE is continuing her work in the field of Psychology involving reliability in a child’s environment influencing lie-telling and decision making. She hopes her research has the power to give children and teenagers a better grasp on the way to live a truly meaningful life.

Abstract:

Stress and anxiety are key mental factors that are a part of the brain’s extensive network. Caused by the hormone cortisol, stress and anxiety can bring detrimental effects to other aspects of the mind. Previous literature has identified a correlation between adult stress and anxiety, low self-esteem, a loss in the ability to retain memories, and impulsive decision-making. Adolescents, ages thirteen to seventeen years old, have not been investigated due to the shortened duration of human adolescence. However, this adolescent time frame plays a crucial role in the developmental stages of the mind. Self-efficacy inductions of positive, negative, and neutral emotions were used as an indicator of the functionality of memory and impulsivity. The survey-based analysis was used through the combination of episodic memory tasks and compared to the induced emotional states. This research investigated past and present memories that involved stressful situations that prompted a teenager to change their behavior and ability to properly complete described tasks. Results suggest that during adolescence, memory retention is higher when positive self-efficacy was utilized, in comparison to the low self-efficacy induction. Impulsivity was relatively the same throughout each self-efficacy group. The high self-efficacy group scored higher (m=18.1429) in comparison to the low (m=8.4286) and neutral (m=13.3571) inductions. Significant results for positive self-efficacy caused a higher ability to retain memories and be descriptive (p=0.01912). Further research should explore the integration of positive self-efficacy in episodic memory exercises to improve brain functionality, memory retention, and impulsivity.

Biography:

Yoko Kamada is a yoga therapist certified by the Japan Yoga Therapy Society and The Society for Integrative Medicine in Japan. Currently, she is a board member of the Japan Yoga Therapy Society. Having trained on site with the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Foundation and having participated in the 2001 SVYASA Yoga Instructor Course in Japan, she completed the Yoga Therapist Course in 2005 and was accredited as a yoga instructor and yoga therapist by the Central Government of India. In July 2017, she passed the Indian government’s QCI Yoga Instructor Voluntary Certification Exam level 2. She's guiding yoga therapy and also doing yoga guidance at a person with disabilities' facilities. She and her colleagues have been doing yoga therapy as volunteers for the victims of the Great East Japan earthquake. She would like to thank Mr. Keishin Kimura, chairman of JYTS, Prof. Chieko Kato and visiting Prof. Minoru Kamata of Toyo University.

Abstract:

The world’s yoga population is increasing. Many meta-analyzed papers on the effects of yoga and of mindfulness-based yoga have been published. According to Kanbara and Fukunagas, (2016) hypothesis, the foundation of physical self-awareness is receiving interoception, which mainly involves the anterior insular cortex (part of the cerebral cortex) and the cingulate gyrus (part of the limbic system) and is implicated in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. In biofeedback therapy, this is where homeostasis is based. We hypothesize that the same applies to yoga therapy. We plan to prepare a program that allows becoming very aware of intraception and to prove its effectiveness. This experiment, as a preliminary step, verifies whether the program in itself is effective. Subjects concentrate their awareness regarding their interoceptive feelings of now, here, this moment. Their objectivity is enhanced doing isometric yoga exercises, a trademark of Japan Yoga Therapy Society, which alternately tenses and relaxes muscles. Matching ones breathing with movements enables us to understand the changes during and after exercise. The 30-minute program includes ‘body scan’ meditation and breathing exercises. The experiment was conducted on 14 yoga therapy students aged 38 to 74, whose consent was obtained. An abbreviated version of POMS 2 was used and a physical symptom record table before and after practical sessions was completed. No adverse effects were caused by the subjects. POMS 2 indicated a significant reduction of negative feelings and improved physical symptoms, therefore a significant difference was observed. It was recognized that this program encourages self-awareness and the objective of interoceptive sensations is that they influence emotions. In the future, to verify the impact of objectivity and self-awareness, experiments will be conducted with a control group which will not be encouraged to become self-aware and objective.