ALTM300-0314: Brilliant Sanity - How Mindfulness Meditation Can Help Make You More Effective and Happier

Enrollment is now closed.

SPEAKER: Michele Gaspar, DVM, DABVP (Feline)
COURSE OPEN: March 26, 2014
INTERACTIVE SESSIONS: April 2-May 25, 2014
MEDITATION SESSIONS: Wednesdays; 9:00-10:00 pm ET (US) and Sundays; 7:00-8:00 PM ET (US), starting April 2, 2014.
Session Times in Your Area: World Clock Converter

We recommended that participants attend at least one session each week, although it is possible to attend several. Participants are encouraged to continue meeting online for the meditation sessions after completion of the interactive sessions, although this is not a requirement for participation.

Course Description:
This is not being offered as a true CE course. This is essentially a reoccurring rounds in an expanded form. It will have a dedicated library and message boards, but WILL NOT be submitted for RACE approval and participants WILL NOT receive CE credit.

For additional information on the origin of this series, please visit Dr. Gaspar's rounds: https://www.vin.com/Members/CMS/Rounds/Default.aspx?id=1391

Mindfulness meditation is a secular contemplative practice that has been shown to decrease stress, increase empathy, reduce burnout among health care professionals and contribute to a greater sense of well-being. While mindfulness is not a substitute for therapy, it has been used as adjunctive treatment for both depression and anxiety.

These sessions are designed to introduce mindfulness meditation to the participants and support the individual's personal practice through on-line meetings with like-minded professionals.

There will be eight (8) interactive one-hour sessions that will include didactic information about mindfulness, a 20-30 minute practice time and a question/answer session afterwards. Participants will also need to view the pre-recorded lecture in the library prior to attending a meditation session that week.

Ideally, participants should anticipate developing a personal meditation practice of 20-30 minutes most days. This personal practice is critical.

*The speaker for this course will be using audio which will require you to have a headset or speakers to listen.

Upon completion of the interactive sessions, the participant should be able to

• Understand the technique of mindfulness meditation and be able to practice at home.
• Know the neurobiology that supports the use of this technique and be familiar with some of the research on the benefits of mindfulness to health care professionals.
• Provide a less reactive and more focused, empathic way of interacting with self, clients, staff and family/friends.
• Utilize mindfulness on a daily basis to counteract burnout, negative events and prevent negative ruminations (reviewing negative events throughout the day).
• Discover their own ability to live fully in each moment with greater peace and personal satisfaction.

Materials: These will be available in the course library prior to each Meditation Session. Headphones will be helpful to time meditation sessions, although audio will be limited. Questions from participants and answers to such questions will be typed (as is done in VIN Rounds).

About the Speaker:
Dr. Michele Gaspar is a VIN consultant (Feline Internal Medicine Folder) and has a Master's in pastoral counseling from Loyola University / Chicago. She has had a personal mindfulness meditation practice for 13 years and completed the certificate program in Mindfulness and Psychotherapy from the Institute of Meditation and Psychotherapy in Newton, MA. She is a member of Ancient Dragon Gate Zen Center in Chicago. Michele is currently completing the two-year certificate program in adult psychoanalytic psychotherapy through the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and is a part-time staff therapist at the C. G. Jung Center in Evanston, Illinois. Her interests include the use of meditation as an antidote to professional burnout, compassion fatigue and stress. Michele has lectured on mindfulness meditation to veterinarians, veterinary support staff, and shelter personnel.

Course Outline:
Interactive Session Outline:
Week 1 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday April 2 and Sunday April 6)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 1 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Body scan and mindfulness meditation session/questions and comments regarding technique.

Week 2 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday April 9 and Sunday April 13)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 2 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Review of the neurobiological research on mindfulness.
• Review of several of the large-scale studies on the technique among health care providers and students.
• Meditation session/questions and comments regarding technique.

Week 3 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday April 16 and Sunday April 20)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 3 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Empathy, Compassion, Sympathy: What do they really mean?
• Meditation session/question and comments regarding technique.

Week 4 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday April 23 and Sunday April 27)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 4 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Dealing with difficult people. How does mindfulness help?
• Meditation session/questions and comments regarding technique.

Week 5 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday April 30 and Sunday May 4)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 5 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Using mindfulness to deal with staff issues.
• Meditation session/questions and comments regarding technique.

Break for Thanksgiving

Week 6 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday May 7 and Sunday May 11)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 6 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Guest speaker.
• Meditation session/questions and comments regarding technique.

Week 7 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday May 14 and Sunday May 18)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 7 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• Dealing with roadblocks to practice. How does one sustain mindfulness practice?
• Meditation session/question and comments regarding technique.

Week 8 (Meditation Sessions on Wednesday May 21 and Sunday May 25)
Before the Interactive Session: Watch the "Week 8 Video" in the course library.
Content:

• A summary of where we have been.
• Planning the sustainability of this practice for ourselves.

CE CREDITS: 0

Tuition: Free to VIN and VSPN members.

*To ensure participants are ready and prepared for classes, enrollment will close at 5 pm ET April 2, 2014 or when the maximum number of participants is reached.

*For more information on how online CE works, see the Participant Resource Center.

TO ENROLL:
Enrollment is now closed.

1. Enrollment qualifications: VIN CE courses are open to VIN member and non-member veterinarians. Veterinarians enrolling in a VSPN CE course must be a VIN member. Veterinary support staff must be a VSPN member to enroll in a VSPN CE or a VIN CE course open to VSPN member enrollment.
2. Each enrollee must be able to receive emails from @vspn.org and @vin.com addresses. Email is our major form of communication with participants; personal emails are highly recommended rather than clinic/hospital email addresses.
3. Each person is individually responsible for his/her own registration. To ensure that all information received is secure and correct, please do not enroll for a course on behalf of another individual.
4. For further assistance call 1-800-700-INFO (4636) or email (VIN CE) CEonVIN@vin.com or (VSPN CE) VSPNCE@vspn.org. Please include the course title, your full name, and contact information in your correspondence.

*Note: This course does not have AAVSB RACE approval. This course does not qualify for CE credit. Call VIN/VSPN CE at 1-800-700-4363 for further information.

Course withdrawal and refund policy: A complete refund of the paid course price will be issued when your withdrawal request is received prior to the listed start date of the course. If you wish to withdraw after the start date please contact the VIN/VSPN office 1-800-700-INFO (4636) to discuss eligibility for a pro-rated refund.
* Note: To ensure rapid handling of your request for withdrawal, we recommend that you call the VIN/VSPN office at 1-800-700-INFO (4636).

*For more information on VIN's upcoming CE courses, check the VIN Course Catalog.

The CE team:

Katherine James, DVM, PhD, DACVIM (SAIM)
VIN Education Coordinator

VIN CE Services: CEonVIN@vin.com
800-846-0028 or 530-756-4881; ext. 797
or direct line to VIN/VSPN from the United Kingdom: 01452226154

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800.700.4636  |  CEonVIN@vin.com  |  530.756.4881  |  Fax: 530.756.6035 777 West Covell Blvd, Davis, CA 95616 Copyright 2002, Veterinary Information Network, Inc.