Session 3 focuses on the importance of moving mindfully. This session includes practicing a series of eight gentle stretches that can be done for a few moments during the day to help release stress tension and restore focus and balance

Facilitators:

Michelle Zechner, Ph.D., LSW, CPRP is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers-SHP, Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Programs and has focused her career on helping people and their families recover from mental illness for over 25 years, with special expertise in health promotion initiatives. She has worked in a variety of community and inpatient settings, including nursing homes, outpatient mental health services, state psychiatric hospitals, and community services for older adults. In her current role, she has focused on the implementation of evidence-based psychosocial practices in psychiatric hospitals, developing and testing health and wellness promotion interventions in community settings, teaching students, training diverse mental health staff on best practice interventions for older persons with mental health conditions, and conducting research. Dr. Zechner’s research includes the development of programs focused on multi-domain wellness for people with mental health conditions, promotion of and adherence to physical activity in persons with mental illness, use of peer health coaching strategies, and identifying best practices for use with older adults with mental health conditions. She has co-authored peer-reviewed and technical publications on health promotion for persons with mental illness and has presented her work at local, national, and international conferences. She is passionate about supporting older people with mental health conditions to improve their mental and physical health.

Monica Townsend holds an MPA and BS in Public Health and currently works at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care - COPSA Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders as the Training and Consultation Specialist. She has been affiliated with Rutgers University since 2007 first becoming a course instructor with the Institute for Families – School of Social work, where for nine years she has taught the Family Development Credential (FDC) Course, a nationally recognized course based on foundational research on families out of Cornell University and in collaboration with Rutgers University’s Institute for Families – School of Social. She remains a part-time lecturer with the School of Social Work. She has extensive experience in course design and development, training facilitation, program development, and management across multiple disciplines.