Psychology   

Friends are the tonic of life. They not only enrich your heart and mind, but also boost your immune system! Making friends when we were younger was almost spontaneous. But now, it may seem challenging, with moves, family shifts, retirement, and other natural life changes. Join us to explode some myths of friendship, and tighten up the “friendship gap.” We’ll explore a host of fun ways to seed, feed, and even weed friendships. Building the Bonds of Friendship at Midlife and Beyond will be available as a free addition to the workshop.

 New in-person workshop. Format includes lecture and discussion.

Gift yourself some moments of accessing your innate inner peace while longer daylight is just beginning to return. The class will introduce mindfulness and insight meditation practices that can be helpful in developing more awareness of one’s habitual inner processes, and wider appreciation of our perception, outlook and action in daily life. Class sessions will include introductions to various techniques, a guided meditation or practice, followed by time for questions and group discussion. Intention of the course: One may find a comfortable way to incorporate an increased awareness, a feeling of greater connection in life, as well as an appreciation of our innate inner peace, between thoughts. Scheduled at a time when it could be beneficial to invite our active minds to wind down.

New remote course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and hands-on learning.

How much of who we are is shaped by the places we live and experience? This course invites reflection on the psychological and emotional relationships between people and their environments. Drawing on psychology, geography, architecture, and design, we will explore environmental psychology and how physical environments shape behavior, cognition, identity, and memory. Using place-based methods, we will discuss concepts such as place attachment, identity, and cognitive maps. We will reflect on memory, home, trauma, displacement, and nature’s role in well-being.

Get relief from anxiety and stress through gaining information, skill sets, and techniques taught by a licensed professional therapist. The course will help you define and explore the mental health issues related to anxiety and stress plus you will learn how to manage their symptoms. We will discuss various approaches to resolve these issues and concerns. However, please note the class is not therapeutic and does not replace mental health counseling for those who may be struggling.

New remote workshop. Format includes lecture.