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t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 9 13 Mind-Body Medicine Goes Mainstream Saybrook University, in collaboration with the Institute for Spirituality and Health, is offering graduate degrees at the TMC S tarting this fall, Saybrook University will offer satellite master of science and Ph.D. pro- grams in mind-body medicine at the Texas Medical Center, hosted, in part, by the Institute for Spirituality and Health. The graduate degrees promote a holistic approach to wellness, emphasizing the interconnected- ness of the mind and body when treating patients and guiding overall care. Practices taught are designed to help manage stress and certain diseases, including Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Classes in yoga, meditation, nutrition, spirituality, hypnosis and biofeedback—which uses elec- trical sensors to help individuals control certain bodily functions without drugs—are just a few of the curriculum offerings. "Our goal is to teach people new skills and lifestyle changes right away, when they're amenable—to have a yoga practitioner right in the medical clinic," said Donald Moss, Ph.D., dean of the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences at Saybrook, an online uni- versity based in California. "People will trust their doctor and trust the practitioner in their doctor's office. There have been holistic practi- tioners for decades, but the problem has been that physicians would treat the patient with a headache with medications. Then, eventually, patients would get referred to some- one for hypnosis or biofeedback." Saybrook's courses are web- based, but each degree requires students to attend "residential conference" sessions. For Houston area students, these classes will be held at the Institute for Spirituality and Health (ISH), located in the Texas Medical Center at 8100 Greenbriar Road. Ordinarily, students must travel to Oakland, California, where the university is based, for the sessions. "Students who enroll in the Houston residential conference program will take four, four-day residential conferences as fulfill- ment of the residential training requirements for the 40-credit M.S. in mind-body medicine and the 76-credit Ph.D. in mind-body medi- cine," Moss explained. "A certificate in mind-body medicine will also be available." ➟ B y M a g g i e G a l e h o u s e The Institute for Spirituality and Health, which will host Saybrook University conferences, offers yoga and meditation classes.