Balance, mindfulness, self-soothing: these are just a few of the tools that clinicians from Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC) and the Community Service Network (CSN) took away from their weekend yoga training this September. Peg Oliveira, Ph.D., a psychologist and licensed yoga instructor, led the training, which was made possible by a generous grant from the CMHC Foundation.
Oliveira founded and directs 108 Monkeys, a non-profit outreach organization whose mission is to incorporate the idea of service into the definition of yoga. Oliveira aims to teach staff members at non-profit organizations how to incorporate yoga practice into their work with chronically stressed, at-risk youth and adult populations.
The training received rave reviews, and Oliveira stated that the high number of participants—twenty-two—was unprecedented in her experience. "Most organizations only send two people," she explained, "but CMHC clearly understood that to shift the culture of an organization, it's necessary to shift the mindset of all of the clinicians working together, not just one or two individuals."
Benefits for Clients and Staff
Oliveira enjoyed working with such an enthusiastic, open group of participants, many of whom had no experience with yoga at all.
One of these learners was Silvia Moscariello, the Client Services Coordinator at Liberty Community Services, a CSN agency. Moscariello works with clients who have experienced chronic homelessness alongside addiction and/or serious mental illness. In all her work, she emphasizes the importance of wellness; she has always viewed yoga as a wonderful way to incorporate the evidence-based trauma-informed care practices of self-regulation, self-grounding, conscious breathing, and stretching into her women's group at Liberty.
However, Moscariello says her clients—like many at CMHC and throughout the CSN—might not feel comfortable taking a standard yoga class. Even something as simple as removing their shoes might be off-putting for them.
Oliveira's training offered a different approach. It taught clinicians how to incorporate yoga techniques into everyday life and teach their clients to do the same. Moscariello says that yoga offers her clients "free tools" that are always available to them.
"These are tools that they can pick up instead of engaging in other harmful or passive behaviors," she explains.
Working with providers like Moscariello rather than directly with clients may seem like an unorthodox approach, but Oliveira explains, "Research shows that if you lower the stress levels of clinicians, you lower the stress levels of clients."
Among the CMHC clinicians who participated were several from the fourth floor inpatient unit, including Teri Cassidy, RN and Elise Mordente, rehabilitation therapist. They are gradually finding success doing simple yoga moves and breathing exercises with CMHC's most acute patients.
Says Cassidy, "Yoga is a great tool for patients and staff to utilize to help decrease stress and increase self-awareness."
Article by Hannah Rose Mitchell, Yale School of Public Health candidate 2013