University News

UMass Staff Earn Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine Certifications

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Benson Henry Institute logo

Four UMass staff members recently completed a year-long certification process through the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine.

Michelle Letendre, the Center for Health Promotion; Rachel Adams, disability services; and Pamela Dutta, student legal services; became certified Positivity and Relaxation Training (PART) instructors. PART is offered to undergraduate students for 1-credit.

The nine-week Positivity and Relaxation Training (PART) program helps participants develop a self-care routine to help manage stress, improve their outlook and enhance their quality of life.

Developed at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine (BHI) at Massachusetts General Hospital, the PART program teaches participants a variety of mind body practices and self-care interventions:

  • How to recognize their personal responses to stress
  • Meditative techniques that elicit the relaxation response
  • How to change thought patterns and emotional outlook to adaptive and positive perspectives
  • Techniques to improve sleep, eating and physical activity
  • Ways to harness creativity, humor and appreciations to cultivate positivity and personal wellbeing

Christine Catraio, Center for Counseling and Psychological Health, became a certified Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) instructor.  This nine-week program has sessions that are longer than PART with a more in-depth program manual. Pilot applications of SMART are currently being explored.

The PART and SMART programs are offered out of the Campus Life and Wellbeing Collaborative in Student Affairs. For more information contact Mike Pease.