Mindful Well-Being in Schools: Implications for Mental Health Professionals
As mental health professionals in schools, many of us are reporting a rise in the intensity of what we see on a day-to-day basis in academic settings:
- more severe and intense behavior in students;
- more students who are emotionally challenged, dis-regulated and overwhelmed;
- more school staff who feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or hopeless when their toolboxes can't address student behavior;
- school cultures that seem increasingly characterized by stress and extreme behaviors.
We are looking for solutions to support our schools to nurture social and emotion wellness from the start, and solutions to respond compassionately and effectively when situations escalate.
Mindfulness is key to this solution. With mindfulness, students and adults alike learn proactive strategies and practices to access their optimal, whole-brain functioning and engage from their best self. With mindfulness, we uplift students and adults with the power to respond in new ways to challenging situations and interactions, building a culture characterized by greater calm, compassion, confidence, and courage.
In this workshop, we will:
- Explore the basic neuroscience of mindfulness and stress and how mindfulness practice can support people to shift how they operate in the school setting.
- Experience at least five mindfulness tools that can benefit you, your students, and colleagues.
- Discuss possibilities and implications for introducing and integrating mindfulness in school systems.
Joanna Curry-Sartori, MS, LMFT
With over 20 years experience as an educator, program director, and leader in the field of mindfulness and yoga, Joanna has focused the last eight years on introducing and integrating mindfulness and social and emotional learning (SEL) programs in over fifty school systems throughout the Greater Hartford Area. Joanna is a faculty member at the Copper Beech Institute, specializing in consulting with schools regarding the integration of contemplative practices. After six years as a school-based community therapist, Joanna started her clinical private practice, Open Space Counseling and Consulting, LLC, in Newington, CT. She works with students and children, teens and families, and adults., She specializes in Internal Family Systems, an innovative, non-pathologizing approach to cultivating social and emotional well-being. Whether she is consulting with administrators, presenting to parents and teachers, doing hands-on work in classrooms, or facilitating family processes, Joanna is passionate about working with people of all ages to discover simple ways to access their innate confidence, courage, and compassion, and to bring their best into each moment.
copperbeechinstitute.org
