Join us for a 2-hour workshop introducing a stress-reduction method
for people with memory issues, mild cognitive impairment, early Alzheimer's disease, or related disorders
and for caregivers
Wednesday, May 15th
Time: 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Room: Prentice Women's Hospital Room L North (3rd floor) 250 East Superior St., Chicago IL 60611
Session Instructor: Michael Maslar Psy.D.
Reservations: Attendence is limited to the first 60 who RSVP. To register, contact Helen Craigie by email at helen.craigie@gmail.com
About the Workshop
This session will provide basic information on training in mindfulness, which is a type of cognitive training that can help people develop skills in paying attention to the present moment and coping with emotional issues. Participants will be asked to fill out two short surveys on psychological wellbeing before and after the session. Optional follow-up questionnaires will be offered at a later date.
Please note: the workshop will be videotaped. Please let us know if you would not like to be filmed and we will seat you accordingly.
Mindfulness practice is a form of meditation that involves learning how to pay a special kind of attention to one's experience. This special attention involves three elements: awareness, of the present moment, with acceptance. With these elements as objectives, mindfulness practitioners develop the capacity to stay conscious of physical, emotional, and psychological, as well as external events, with increasing calmness of mind, with less preoccupation with the past, or worry about the future.
What are some of the benefits of mindfulness practice? In addition to greater calmness of mind and fewer worries about the future, research has shown that many people experience other benefits from mindfulness practice. They include: reduced physical pain, improvements in depression, decreases in stress, improved immune function, and decreased anxiety to name a few.
MPSC is a group that will meet for 2 hours. Participants will learn a different set of mindfulness practices which will include seated meditation and movement meditation. Each mindfulness practice will be done in group, and discussion time will allow members to ask questions about the practices learned that day, Suggestions will be given for how to incorporate each practice into day-to-day life.
Michael Maslar Psy.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist who is Director of the Mindfulness and Behavior Therapies program at the Family Institute of Northwestern University. He previously coordinated psychology training and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) services at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Outpatient Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program, and has worked with challenging problems in a variety of other outpatient, inpatient, and residential settings. A graduate of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, he practices mindfulness-based therapies, therapies rooted in Zen practice, DBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and other "Third Wave" behavioral therapies. He received instruction as a clinician and trainer from the original developers of DBT, Marsha Linehan's Behavioraltech. He also serves as a member of the Midwest DBT Team Leaders Group, and the Chicago DBT Consortium. He specializes in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, other disorders of emotion dysregulation, trauma, anxiety disorders, and high conflict couples and families. Dr. Maslar has had a personal practice of yoga and Buddhist meditation, including mindfulness, lovingkindness, and concentrative forms, for over twenty years. He has instructed general audiences, as well as well as people in the helping professions, in these practices for over ten years.