Instructor: Vera Moura, MD

Courses are offered year-round in the mornings (9:30AM-Noon) and evenings (6PM-8:30PM) for health care professionals and the general public, including individuals with stable chronic conditions.

2.5 CEU credits are available.

New! Announcing classes for Summer and Fall 2013:

Beginning July 16th from 9:30am to noon
Beginning July 17th from 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Beginning September 24 from 9:30am to noon
Beginning September 25 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Place: 1717 Legion Road, Chapel Hill

For more information, email to: vera_moura@med.unc.edu

Sessions are 2 1/2 hours, held once a week for ten weeks, focused
on experiential practice and self-reflection. The tools can last a lifetime.

Download our new Mind-Body brochure from UNC Health Care.

About the Program

Mind-Body Skills Group (MBSG) is a meditative group process, and is one among a variety of programs worldwide involving Mind Body Medicine theory and practice. MBSG is based on principles identified in Dr. Jim Gordon’s book, Manifesto for a New Medicine. According to Dr. Gordon, a psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Mind- Body Medicine in Washington DC, “self care is the true primary care” and “health promotion is a way of life”. Dr Gordon advises health care professionals and patients to embrace a holistic, individualized approach to health and draw upon the wisdom of ancient medical traditions.

The mind-body skills group program is an educational program designed to help people embrace a unique approach to health and wellness and adopt new attitudes about health and healing. In this program, group participants have the opportunity to learn and practice a variety of mind-body techniques:

Meditation Guided Imagery Breath Work Movement Journal Writing Drawing Autogenic Training (self-hypnosis) Biofeedback (using the body's natural abilities to relax)

This program has also been proven to assist medical students and health care professionals in “preventing burnout, re-instilling fresh purpose in their work, understanding their purpose in serving and healing their patients, and providing a transformational experience” for them within a safe peer-support group.

More testimonials from participants:

"Deep concentrated breathing and meditation allows for me to be in the here-and-now and focus on what is really going on in my body. I have been using the techniques to allow me to be able to cope with very stressful situations. I feel that I have become more tolerant of others and their expressions of self awareness.”

“This group has meant...a return to...my older wiser intuitive self...I will be anticipating being part of a group again in the future after this fulfilling experience.”

“The growth I experienced in the group was somehow an enhancement of self esteem and also a new reverence for the spiritual power inherent in sharing and opening up to self, to others, and to the unknown. I feel grateful and empowered by the experience of being in the group. The techniques were mostly known to me, but now I am more and more comfortable sharing them with others in my practice and in my personal life.”

“Listening to everyone in the group talk about themselves, I realized how different what they said was from what I thought I might hear...I know that I have grown, mostly in my ability to look inside myself, but also in my ability to really hear other people.”

“… I was able to feel comfortable being myself and sharing what I was truly feeling. I enjoyed hearing the other group members’ experiences with the practices and felt accepted and respected by everyone in the group, which in and of it self was healing.”

“…The group process was magical. Not only were the tools that were taught useful to me at various times during the program, but my life’s experiences seemed to be heightened and intensified...These life experiences were not always easy or enjoyable, but they were definitely learning experiences. I am sure I have much more to learn, but this was a big step along the way.”

Inquiries and Registration

Contact Vera Moura, MD, at 919.240.7022 or vera_moura@med.unc.edu via email. A personal interview is required before admission to the program. Each group is limited to eight participants.

Deposits and Tuition Fees

The cost for the program is $490.00. A partial scholarship is available. (No one will be turned away for financial difficulties.) Additionally, you may wish to check with your employer about available funding/reimbursement for continuing education (staff development) expenses.

About the Facilitator

Vera Lucia Moura, MD is a Brazilian psychiatrist/psychoanalyst with over 20 years of clinical practice in Brazil prior to immigrating to the US in 1990. While working at the University of Michigan Medical School (1995-2006), Dr. Moura completed the Professional Certification Program in Mind-Body-Spirit Medicine offered by the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Washington DC. At the University of Michigan Integrative Medicine, she facilitated Mind-Body Skills groups of medical and other students from the health professions, as well as groups of women with history of abuse; she also conducted research on Mind-Body Medicine and Ancient Ways of Healing. Currently, she is working as a faculty member in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation’s Program on Integrative Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Moura is skilled in various ancient healing methods derived from indigenous cultures, including Andean (Kichwa), African, Brazilian and Native American. Dr. Moura is committed to educating groups and individual clients on mind-body-spirit integration skills.

About the Program on Integrative Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

The Program on Integrative Medicine (PIM) was founded in 1998 with the mission of enhancing health through the informed integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with mainstream health care. Faculty, staff and affiliates collaborate on CAM-related research, education, clinical practice and community initiatives, with the aim of understanding theoretical and philosophical bases of CAM systems; exploring efficacy of CAM practices; improving access to patient centered integrative care; furthering communication and collaboration with CAM providers; and disseminating evidence-based information on CAM and integrative care. Funding for PIM currently is provided through a state appropriation that originated with the UNC Division of Health Affairs in 1997, as well as federal and foundation grants. For more information, please see the PIM website.

New! View and post the team's flier!

Zanmi Beni was created to care for physically and/or mentally handicapped orphans, who were displaced by the devastating earthquake in January 2010.

A fund has been set up on the NC Children’s Promise website for tax-deductible charitable donations to help Dr. Alexander and a resident physician make the trip and bring equipment and supplies along with them.

You can help! Just go to https://www.ncchildrenspromise.org/give/givenow and choose the “Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine Fund – Haiti 13” from the “Designation” drop-down menu. All donors will receive email updates throughout the trip from Dr Alexander.

Thanks for your support!

The clinical trial published in the British Journal of Medicine shows that replacing saturated animal fats with omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable fats (PUFAs) is linked to an increased risk of death among patients with heart disease.

Nutrition epidemiologist and study co-author, Daisy Zamora, PhD, is postdoctoral researcher in the Program on Integrative Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

She said, “These findings highlight the need to re-evaluate worldwide dietary advice to substitute omega 6 PUFAs for saturated fats.”

Read the entire UNC Health Care story here.

Read the original abstract in PubMed here.

Read the full article in BMJ, an open publication.

Congratulations to our nationally-ranked faculty for 2012-2013!

Joshua Alexander, MD, a pediatric rehabilitation specialist,
placed in the top 1% in the nation.

Michael Y. Lee, MD, MHA, department chair,
placed in the top 10%.

Doctors are selected through an online peer nomination process, managed by Castle Connolly in partnership with U.S News.

Overall, the University of North Carolina Health Care System ranked nationally in 13 specialties, and high-performing in 8 specialties.

The Body Betrayal 

Listen to the mp3

It's never a good time to experience an injury or ailment, whether chronic or acute. We have things to do, places to go...how could we possibly take time away from our daily routines to heal? That's a common response to things that slow us down physically. Other reactions are depression, anger, or a tendency to ignore our compromised bodies. Certainly, physical injury and illness can have psychological implications born of life experience and personality.

On Voices in the Family, with guest host Jennifer Lynn: "the body's betrayal" - how the ways in which we address physical vulnerabilities affect how we feel about ourselves during and after the healing process. We'll hear from Voices in the Family's Dan Gottlieb, who's taking a brief leave of absence from the show following surgery for a bone infection. We'll also hear from F. Diane Barth, LCSW, and Karla Thompson, Ph.D.

F. Diane Barth is a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City who blogs regularly about emotional responses to healing. Karla Thompson is a clinical neuropsychologist. She directs psychological services for the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina.

See media coverage/links at the end of this article.

Drs. Angela Lipscomb-Hudson and Heather Walker, rehabilitation doctors (physiatrists) at UNC Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, lead a discussion of treatment options for upper limb spasticity, which is an uncomfortable muscle stiffness or tightness in the elbow, wrist or fingers. Refreshments will be served following the program.

Upper limb spasticity, often a problem for people who have had strokes, can occur weeks, months or years after a person's original injury and therefore often is not recognized or goes untreated. Other conditions which can cause spasticity include Multiple Sclerosis, Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, and Cerebral Palsy.

For more about these conditions and treatments, see our patient services pages. To make an outpatient appointment, call 919.966.8812.

Thanks to Amber Dukes and the Open Arms media team for arranging media coverage!

Below is a sampling of media coverage related to the event:

Television

o   News 14 Carolina Website (55,717 unique monthly visitors)

§  Click here to watch online

Online

• Grinza.com (1,196 unique monthly visitors)

o   Click here to read article

Print

• News & Observer
  • News & Observer (Sunday, May 20 print edition) (127,138 readers)
  • News & Observer Website (498,051 unique monthly visitors)
    • Click here to read online

The event featured a 5K run & 1.3 mile walk/roll around a picturesque lake, a Community Expo at the amphitheater’s beautiful Crescent Deck, and lots of activities for families and children with special needs.

For more information from the event or to donate to TelAbility, go to:

http://www.telability.org

For more information about PM&R's Program on Integrative Medicine, including mindfulness and other course offerings, go to the PIM website: www.med.unc.edu/phyrehab/pim

Donald Spencer, MD, MBA, medical director and vice president of Ambulatory Care, and David Bauer, director of Ambulatory Care Administration, presented Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation with the award for the Top Five Ambulatory Clinics as determined by the latest release of the patient satisfaction scores.

The clinic also placed in the Top Five for 2009-2010.

"The focus was to give therapists and nursing staff a broader overview and understanding of the medical and psychological complications associated with SCI," said Heather Walker, MD, assistant professor and faculty director of the conference.

SCI lecture topics included the following: Neurogenic Bladder, Sexuality, Spasticity Management, Wound Care, Medical Complications, and an Interdisciplinary Approach to SCI Rehabilitation.

"Participants primarily came from the Triangle area, representing Wake Med and other organizations, but also from other cities and towns across the state," noted Raheleh Tschoepe, OT, a co-organizer and presenter.

"Sixteen vendors also showed their support, representing wheelchair equipment to advocacy with the North Carolina Spinal Cord Injury Association, to other follow-up services," added Courtney Matrunick, DPT, a co-organizer and presenter at the conference. "We also hosted a lot of students, which was really nice."

View our patient services specific to SCI.

	Conference presenters from the UNC Health Care Rehabilitation Center, from left to right: Raheleh Tschoepe, MS, OT/L Al Howard, OTA Jocelyn Crawford, SLP Paige Lanier, LRT/CTRS Emily Hoke, PTA Courtney Matrunick, DPT

One of our faculty members, Jongbae Park, KMD, PhD, LAc, presented a session on "Acupuncture for Parkinson’s Disease: Evidence Update and Cases" as part of the program.

New! View Dr. Park's slide presentation.

See the full program. The program helped individuals in the early and middle stages of Parkinson’s disease as well as their loved ones.

One of those injured in the crash, Geeta Chhetri, received spinal cord injury rehabilitation at UNC Heath Care with Heather Walker, MD, and the Rehabilitation Center interdisciplinary team. Read more.

“I’m talking to people, and leaving fliers at homes and businesses,” he says.

Two weeks before TelAbility’s 3rd Annual Run Walk & Roll, his team had already raised close to $1,000 in donations, and expected more donations to follow.

The 5K run or 1 mile walk or roll benefits children with disabilities, such as John Allen, a child with spina bifida. This year's event took place on Saturday, May 14, 2011, from 8:00AM to noon at the Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC.

More information is available at the TelAbility website (www.telability.org).

Joshua Alexander, MD, a pediatric rehabilitation physician (physiatrist) at the UNC Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, is the founder of TelAbility, which provides comprehensive, coordinated, family-centered care to children with disabilities across North Carolina, and offers education, training, and peer support to their parents and providers.

Over the past two years, more than 1,600 parents and providers have taken part in over 100 TelAbility videoconferences. The real-time videoconferences have provided educational updates and continuing education to providers across the state and have increased access to specialized medical services for families of children with disabilities, who otherwise would need to travel hundreds of miles for their care.

“Dr. Alexander is a great doctor, and he’s fun,” John Allen says. His parents agree, which helped them decide to chair the event this year, while balancing their jobs and taking care of their three children.

“We wanted to help put a family face to the event,” says Kathy Atkins, John Allen’s mother. “We felt led to help broaden the event to be statewide. Dr. Alexander has helped John Allen for his entire life, so this was our portion of being able to give back and make the event better.”

This year, the family has helped with lots of ideas, logistics and getting the word out. In addition, they have been partnering with a spina bifida support group to publicize the event state-wide. “We’re getting the word out by talking to people directly,” Kathy Atkins notes. “In this economy, even large corporations are cutting back, but they could donate a product, provide services or gift packages. We’re reaching new vendors the old-fashioned way, in person.”

Each year, the event offers many ways to get involved: participants may donate, volunteer, join an existing team, or organize a team as a team captain.

“I am so appreciative of the efforts of all of our volunteers, who have taken time from their busy schedules,” Dr. Alexander says. “I especially want to thank the Atkins family for serving as our event chairs this year. Not only have they done a wonderful job raising their three children, but they have also dedicated themselves towards helping make this year's event the most successful one—and most fun one—yet.”

Last year, John Allen had the idea to invite Stormy, the Hurricanes mascot, to the event.

“We called and there is actually a Stormy rep that takes care of Stormy appearances,” Kathy Atkins recalls. “A lot of kids and families enjoyed Stormy last year – he made it fun as they were waiting for the event to start.”

Kathy Atkins continues to consult with her son for ideas.

“The children’s perspective is different,” she observes. “The kids keep you focused on having a good day amid details, like traffic issues – so that ultimately the kids have a good time.”

Dr. Press is the Reva and David Logan Distinguished Chair of Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation and professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. He also is medical director of the Spine and Sports Rehabilitation Centers, Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.