The Israel Center for Mind-Body Medicine
The Israel Center for Mind-Body Medicine was co-founded in 1998 by Naturopathic Physicians Dr. Paul Epstein and Dr. Nimrod Sheinman, as an educational, training and clinical institute. Although the center is now renamed and has been passed on to others to run, Drs. Epstein and Sheinman were pioneers in bringing this philosophy and approach to healing to Israel.
Here is the vision they created for The Israel Center:
The Center's work is dedicated to the significance and power of the mind-body connection, to the integration of western psychology with eastern traditions, and to the influence of spirituality on daily life. The Center is working to explore these aspects and to bring these dimensions into medicine, psychotherapy, health psychology, education, nursing, family therapy, organizations and society.
The Center's model applies the science of mind-body medicine with the wisdom of the world's healing traditions. In our work, we integrate holistic perspectives, east-west psychology, contemplative traditions, meditation practices and mindfulness based approaches. We emphasize the influence of the inner world of beliefs, emotions, thoughts, attitudes and awareness on healing, wellbeing and health.
Resources from Within
The Center believes that all of us have powerful and largely untapped resources, which can be communicated, utilized and expressed through mind-body approaches. The Center is working to deepen this appreciation, and it's significance and application into the fields of education, medicine, psychotherapy, and to the society at large.
What is Mind-Body Medicine
Mind-Body Medicine combines the findings of modern science with the wisdom of world's ancient healing traditions. The concepts of mind-body medicine can be used regardless of any therapeutic modality one is using in one's practice. The field of mind-body medicine emphasizes the person's whole being, acknowledging that emotional, mental, social, and spiritual dimensions are most important factors in well-being, health and healing. Mind-Body Medicine believes that people can be active participants in their own health care, and views illness and life's difficulties as an opportunity for personal growth, self-awareness and psychological transformation.
Our Work
The Center has worked with the Israel Ministry of Education, the Israel Educational Psychology Services, the Israel Cancer Association, the Israel Family Therapy Association, the Israel Teachers Association, and the Israel Insight Meditation Society as well as within medical schools, hospitals, universities, nursing schools, family therapy institutes and natural medicine institutes.
Training for Health Care Practitioners
As a professional and experiential training for nurses, social workers and other health care professionals, this is the Center's main program for health care practitioners in hospitals and HMOs. The program presents the mind-body theoretical and experiential perspectives, and allows the participants to experience the therapeutic value and power of meditation, guided imagery, emphatic dialogue, east-west psychology and group-work. The training is also aimed to help participants at exploring how to integrate mind-body skills into their clinical practice with individuals and groups.
Clinical Programs
An experiential retreat for cancer patients and their families and for health professionals from the psycho-oncology field, devoted to empower and to give options in healing. The retreat is designed to explore and integrate the best mind-body knowledge and skill through guided meditations, deep inquiry and guided imagery, integrating large group instructions, small group discussions and personal work.
Healing the Heart Retreat
A residential retreat for heart patients based on our synthesis of mind-body principles and the research findings of Dr. Dean Ornish. The residential intensive integrates the up-to-date knowledge in nutrition, stress management, movement and mind-body perspectives, with strong emphasis on experiential learning for healing the heart.
Mind-Body and Mindfulness in Education
Our commitment to bring mindful awareness and mind-body skills into Israel educational system. Our unique model is based on synthesis of mindfulness meditation, guided imagery, relaxation practices and yoga, emphasizing experiential and mindful learning. Working within a variety of schools, high schools and kindergartens around the country, we have influenced thousands of kids, teachers, educators, school counselors and educational psychologists.
Advanced Training & Certification
Guided Imagery in Clinical Practice
Interactive Guided Imagery, and how to integrate it in one's practice. Learning and experiencing advanced imagery techniques for illness, pain, stress and difficult emotions. Integration and application of guided imagery in medicine, psychotherapy, health psychology, education and health optimization.
Buddhist Psychology and Mindfulness Meditation
This training is devoted to the influence of Buddhist perspectives on therapy, change and transformation. Through group exercises and small group work, we explore how to integrate mindfulness meditation and unconditional presence in clinical practice. We emphasize the therapeutic value and power of compassion, insight, heartfulness, deep listening and spirituality, in the healing process.
Body Wisdom: Somatic Body-Mind Therapy
This comprehensive hands-on training integrates somatic perspectives, osteopathic principles and movement awareness. With didactics, demonstrations, one-on-one work, practitioners are gaining advanced Body Wisdom's techniques, diagnostic ";body-reading"; methods, structure and function techniques, and cranial techniques.
Process Oriented Psychotherapy
A training program based on Dr. Arnold Mindell's work, in connection with the International Process-work Center, Portland, Oregon. As a cross-disciplinary approach to support individual and collective change, Process Work offers new ways of working with areas of life that are experienced as problematic and painful.
Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy
Theoretical and practical training based on the Focusing method of professor Eugene Gendlin. Through group and personal work, participants learn how to work with the body's ";Felt Sense"; for creating shifts and insights. The training teaches and explores the role of Focusing based approaches in therapy, education, conflict management, self healing and creativity.
