Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
PAMF offers the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program, an intensive 8-week course that helps people cope with physical and mental ailments. During the weekly two-and-a-half-hour sessions, participants learn and practice mindful meditation, simple yoga, breathing awareness, and an exercise focusing on bodily sensations.
The course includes regular group discussion and a full-day, silent meditation retreat. The MBSRP class is designed to help people learn how to deal effectively with physical and emotional stresses.
The program was developed in the early 1980s by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., a University of Massachusetts molecular biologist who studied Buddhist meditation and incorporated its key principles into a course harnessing the link between mind and body. PAMF has offered the course since 1998, with Renée Burgard instructing since October 2001.
Read more about this program from in an article written by Renée in Winter 2009: Mindfulness (.pdf)
About the Teacher
Renée Burgard, LCSW, is owner of Mindfulness & Health in Palo Alto. She is a mindfulness-based psychotherapist in private practice, consultant and educator. Ms. Burgard teaches mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) courses and workshops quarterly for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, for Stanford University, the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), and for corporations and schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. She serves as a senior MBSR teacher and mentor for new instructors in the Bay Area and teaches mindfulness and psychotherapy courses for psychotherapists.
Renée Burgard's Resume (.pdf)
Download Acrobat Reader here.
Research shows that the mindfulness approach can reduce:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Blood pressure
- Muscle tension
- The effects of chronic illness and pain.
Free Orientations offered quarterly:
- January 5, 2010
- April 5, 2010
- June 30, 2010
- September 7, 2010
- Time: 6:30 to 9 p.m.
- Location: Level 3, Hearst Center for Health Education
Sunday Retreats :
- February 28, 2010
- June 6, 2010
- August 22, 2010
- Time: 9:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
- Location: Level 3, Hearst Center for Health Education
Class Location:
Palo Alto Center
Level 3, Neurology Department Lobby Area
795 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, Ca 94301
Google Map
Cost: $325
(Includes text book, workbook and CD)
Speakers / Instructors: Renée Burgard
PAMF physicians refer patients to the program, though it is open to all patients. For information on the next session of the program click here to view our education calendar or call the Education Division at (650) 853-2960.
Pre-Registration
You can pre-register for classes by filling in the form below. Please note this request form does not automatically enroll you in the class. We will make every effort to accommodate your request for a particular class. Your registration will be finalized with a confirmatory e-mail or phone call from PAMF, as well as collection of any necessary class fees.
You can expect a confirmation within two business days.