AMHERST and NORTHAMPTON - Several orientation sessions will be offered to introduce area residents to a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction program in advance of two eight-week courses that begin this fall.
The free orientation sessions will be offered in Northampton, with no registration required, Tuesday, Sept. 18 from 7:30 - 9 pm, and Sunday, Sept. 23, from 1 to 3 pm, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital's Dakin Conference Room, Northampton, and in Amherst, Thursday, September 13 from 6 - 8 p.m. and Thursday, September 20, 6 - 8 p.m. in the Community Room, 170 University Drive, Amherst.
The Northampton course, led by Dr. Ellen Kaufman, a non-practicing obstetrician-gynecologist, begins Tuesday, Oct. 2 and runs through Nov. 20, 6:30 - 9 pm; an all-day class retreat will be Sunday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. - 4 pm. All meetings take place in the Dakin Conference Room.
The Amherst course, with Dr. Ruth Folchman, a clinical psychologist, begins Thursday, Sept. 27 and runs through Nov. 15, 6 - 8 pm; an all-day class retreat will be Sunday, Nov. 4, 9 am - 4 pm. All meetings take place in the Community Room, 170 University Drive, Amherst, except for the all-day class retreat, which will be held in the Dakin Conference Room.
The fee is $400 and includes instructional materials. To qualify for the program, participants must attend an orientation session and bring a non-refundable deposit of $40 made payable to Cooley Dickinson Hospital to the first class.
The MIndfulness-based Stress Reduction program is designed to help participants change their relationship to stressful thoughts and events. Through eight weekly, two-hour classes and a workshop, participants learn three meditation techniques that train the mind to return to the present moment whenever it wanders into worries, regrets and habitual thought patterns. Both Folchman, pictured at right, and Kaufman, attended teacher training at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical Center, Worcester.
For more information call 582-2243 or visit www.valleystressreduction.com. Space is limited.