About:
Parenting has always been challenging, but 21st century parents are increasingly stressed, isolated, anxious, and exhausted. Previous generations had more support systems in place and life had a more relaxed pace. So how do today’s parents stay calm and unflappable in the midst of constant stress? Many things can help, but mindfulness has been shown to be extremely effective.
This session offered stress-reduction practices that can be easily incorporated into a busy life, such as:
- Simple mindfulness meditations and how to practice with kids
- Ways to stay more calm and aware throughout the day
- How to be more in control of responses to stressful situations, rather than reacting habitually and in less than ideal ways
- How to savor what is already present in life
Speaker:
Shonda Moralis, MSW, LCSW, writes an ongoing blog, Breathe, Mama, Breathe: Mindful Balance for Busy Moms, for the Psychology Today website and has been in private practice as a psychotherapist since 2000. Trained as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher in 2006, Shonda specializes in the use of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in both individual and group therapy and co-developed mindfulness group curricula for children and parents. She has studied under Jon Kabat-Zinn, Susan Kaiser-Greenland, and Tara Brach. Shonda is also the author of Breathe, Mama, Breathe: 5-Minute Mindfulness for Busy Moms (January 2017, The Experiment), a Parent’s Magazine “Mom Must-Read.”
Moderator:
Tricia Thomas PhD, RN, FACHE, NEA-BC, ACNS-BC, CNL has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years, holding various positions across health care settings from staff nurse to nurse executive in practice and academe. Currently she is the Assistant Dean for Practice at Grand Valley State University. Prior to coming to Grand Rapids, she was the VP Clinical Quality, Chief Nursing Officer for Trinity Home Health Services.
Dr. Thomas has consulted, published, and presented in the areas of nursing leadership, nursing professional development, care coordination, shared leadership, care delivery models, trends, quality improvement, safety, and evidence-based practice. Her recent publications address improving outcomes of care, nursing leadership, caring science, and clinical transformation.
Currently the president of the Michigan Organization of Nurse Executives, she has a distinguished record of serving professional nursing organization Boards locally and nationally. She is past chair of the Commission on Nurse Certification. She is a Magnet Appraiser for the American Nurses Credentialing Center and serves as a visitor for the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
