Winter 2009 Class February 4 - April 22, 2009
Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Location: Integrative Health Center of Chapel Hill. 55 Vilcom Center, Suite 110, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
See directions at http://www.chapelhilldoctors.com
Instructor: Vera Moura, MD
Cost: $420. Partial scholarship available. (no one will be turned away for financial difficulties).
Information and registration: Call Vera Moura, MD at the Program on Integrative Medicine: (919) 966-8586, Ext. 6.
A personal interview is required before admission to the program. The group is limited to 8 participants.
The mind-body skills group program (MBSG) is based on principles identified in Dr. Jim Gordon’s book, Manifesto for a New Medicine. Dr. Gordon, a psychiatrist and founder of the Center for Mind- Body Medicine in Washington DC*, states that “self care is the true primary care” and “health promotion is a way of life”. He 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, and autogenic training, to name a few -- in a small group context facilitated by a trained, certified professional. Two-hour group sessions are held once a week for twelve weeks and focus on experiential practice and self-reflection.
There is growing evidence of the immense healing potential of this program for diverse populations. These include healthy people who want to enhance self awareness and well being as well as those with clinical conditions, such as cancer, depression, anxiety, chronic pain and severe stress, particularly when used in combination with conventional health-care services.
MBSG has been proven to assist 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. The tools learned in these programs can last a lifetime. 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 Program, she facilitated Mind-Body Skills groups of medical and other health professions students, as well as groups of women with history of abuse, and 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. |
