Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Helen Hills Hills Chapel
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - Adapted for SSW Students. This is a non-credit offering sponsored by the school to promote student wellbeing and self-care. Developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, MBSR has been shown to reduce anxiety, depression and negative affect among health and mental health professionals and increase positive affect and self-compassion. This course provides an introduction to core MBSR practices in a shortened time-frame, geared to busy Smith students who would like to explore the potential of mindfulness to manage stress, increase well-being and sustain them in their professional pursuits as a clinical social worker. Please note this is not a course in teaching MBSR with others, but rather a course focused on one's own personal stress management. It will be facilitated by Annemarie Gockel, a member of the resident faculty, who has trained in MBSR, and Lynn Koerbel, who teaches MBSR at the UMASS Center for Mindfulness.