Yoga Skills for Therapists

Clinical Applications for Anxiety & Depression (No Mat Required)

Presented by Ocean Lum, MA, RYT-500, LFYP and Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP​

Thursday, November 2, 2017 – Friday, November 3, 2017  |  Vancouver, bc

Date & Location

Practice your clinical specialty more effectively when you offer clients simple, evidence-based LifeForce Yoga practices to self-regulate, experience self-efficacy and build resilience. Learn clinically appropriate yoga skills that complement and enhance the work you currently do, helping clients focus, relax, and have greater access to feeling states.

LifeForce Yoga has been successfully utilized in health care settings with diverse populations, demonstrating its usefulness in relieving emotional distress and dysregulation. In the process of learning Yoga practices to help clients increase self-efficacy and self-compassion and enhancing the therapeutic relationship between you, you will be giving yourself the gift of self-care.

Who Should Attend

Clinical Professionals: All mental health professionals including, but not limited to Clinical Counsellors, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Hospice and Palliative Care Workers, Body Workers, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Addiction Specialists, Probation Officers, Police Officers, Speech Language Pathologists, Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants and all professionals looking to enhance their therapeutic skills.

Clinical Professionals: All mental health professionals including, but not limited to Clinical Counsellors, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Hospice and Palliative Care Workers, School Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Addiction Specialists, Marital & Family Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants and all professionals looking to enhance their therapeutic skills.

Agenda

DAY 1 – THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Creating a Therapeutic Setting for the Practice of Yoga

• Objective 1: Describe the utility of Yogic strategies to create a safe environment for on-going therapeutic work with clients and identify trust-building Yogic exercises for therapeutic alliances (Lecture and Discussion)

Scientific Evidence of the Benefits of Yoga Skills

• Objective 2: Explain and practice the application of yoga practices for mood regulation and emotional balance (Lecture and Practice)
• Objective 3: Explain and describe the evidence-based biochemical changes in the brain as a result of Yoga and meditation in order to explain to clients (Lecture and Discussion)

Yoga Philosophy of Mental Health

• Objective 4: Describe Yogic strategies appropriate in a clinical setting for obtaining optimum mental health (Lecture and Discussion)

Comparison of Yoga Principles to Western Psychological Concepts

• Objective 5: Define the three Yogic philosophical principles that support optimum mental health and compare to Western clinical concepts of mental health and illness (Lecture, Case Studies, and Discussion)

Breathing Exercises for Depressed Mood

• Objective 6: Describe and practice 3 Yoga breathing exercises that meet and regulate the depressed mood. (Lecture and practice)

Yogic Tools Using Sound and Mudras (Hand Pressure Points) to Energize

• Objective 7: Describe and practice universal tones that elevate mood and are secular and appropriate in a clinical setting.
• Objective 8: Explain the integration and demonstrate the application of simple hand gestures to deepen lung capacity and elevate mood. (Lecture, Discussion and Practice)

Dyad Practice

• Participants will gain experience in leading yoga breathing exercises with each other

DAY 2 – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2017

Breathing Exercises for Anxiety

• Objective 1: Identify predominate mood through analysis of current breathing patterns
• Objective 2: Describe and lead 2 Yogic breaths and a simple meditation to calm and focus the anxious mind (Lecture, Discussion and Practice)

 Visual Imagery as a Remedial Measure for Anxiety and Depression

• Objective 1: Understand and apply the technique of visual imagery as a Yoga tool of deep relaxation for body, mind and spirit, activating parasympathetic nervous system.
• Objective 2: Identify and discuss strategies to incorporate and integrate the use of visual imagery (with and without sound) in clinical work (Lecture, Discussion and Practice) 

Yogic Tools Using Sound and Mudras (Hand Pressure Points) to Calm

• Objective 3: Explain the integration and demonstrate the application of audible toning as a calming technique, reducing limbic activity. (Lecture, Discussion and Practice)
• Objective 4: Explain the integration and demonstrate the application of simple hand gestures to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system for a calming effect.

Applying Yoga Strategies to the Treatment of Panic Attacks

• Objective5: Explain and discuss a Yoga protocol for clients suffering with panic attacks.
• Objective 6: Explain and discuss a yoga breathing practice appropriate for preventing a panic attack.

Apply Yoga-based Meditation to Appropriate Diagnosis with Emphasis on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder

• Objective 7: Discuss and practice an evidence-based meditation technique that stimulates the right parietal lobe and elevates mood
• Objective 8: Discuss and practice a meditation technique that interrupts obsessive thinking
• Objective 9: Explain differences between meditation techniques and understand which techniques are contraindicated for major depressive disorder (4) Describe and practice self-inquiry exercises that promote great self-awareness and mood regulation.

Dyad Practice

• Participants will gain experience in leading yoga breathing, sound, hand gesture and imagery exercises with each other

Learning Objectives

1. Yogic tools to foster the therapeutic alliance and client self-acceptance
2. A review of current scientific literature supporting Yoga as a treatment in mental health care
3. Three evidence-based Yogic breaths and a simple meditation to calm and focus the anxious mind
4. Three evidence-based Yogic breaths and two simple meditation techniques to clear the mind and lift the mood
5. A Yogic technique to interrupt panic attack

Your Presenters

Ocean Lum, MA, RYT-500, LFYP

Ocean Lum, MA, RYT-500, LFYP, is Registered Clinical Counsellor, meditation instructor and yoga teacher. She has been teaching yoga since 2002 and is a Level 2 LifeForce Yoga practitioner. In her clinical practice, Ocean uses a holistic approach to treat depression and anxiety by integrating mindfulness and yoga practices. She  has helped hundreds of people alleviate their stress, anxiety and depression. As a long time Buddhist practitioner, Ocean embodies a compassionate and playful presence.

Amy Weintraub, MFA, ERYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP​

Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP, founder of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, the author of Yoga for Depression (Broadway Books, 2004) and Yoga Skills for Therapists: Effective Practices for Mood Management (W.W. Norton, 2012), has been a pioneer in the field of yoga and mental health for over twenty years. She offers the LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Training for Mood Management to health and yoga professionals and offers workshops for every day practitioners. The LifeForce Yoga protocol is being used in residential treatment centres, hospitals and by health care providers around the world.

Registration & Fees