Please join us on Saturday, June 2, 2018 for Meeting Life’s Changes & Transitions with Compassion with Robert Cusick and Lori Wong from 9:30am to 4:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County, 2172 Kiernan Ave., Modesto, CA.

We will explore change, transition, and loss in the context of mindfulness and compassion practices. The day will include meditation, experiential, and interactive exercises, and is appropriate for mental health professionals as well as the general public. Mental health and healthcare professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this daylong in ways beneficial to clients or their patients, as well as themselves. We will introduce mindfulness to attune to the transitory nature of our life experiences and to bring awareness to the somatic and physiological experience of emotions in order to cultivate a compassionate response to life’s changes and losses. We’ll have an opportunity to practice with these skills and look at loss and change as transformational processes.  

This day is freely offered to all.  Donations are important to support the teachers’ livelihood and our future offerings, but there is no obligation to make a donation.

If you are requesting CEs, there is an administrative fee (see below). There will be a potluck vegetarian lunch — please bring a dish to share, if you are able. Kindly label if the dish contains gluten, nuts, eggs, or dairy, so those with allergies may avoid those dishes.

Please register using the form below, no later than May 30th.

Robert Cusick trained at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE). He is a Stanford Lecturer and Certified Sr. Stanford CCT™ (Compassion Cultivation Training) Instructor and teaches at Stanford University, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente Medical Center and in multiple other venues. As a long time meditator and former monk, Robert ordained in Burma under the renowned meditation master, Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, and studied with him from 2003 – 2012. He has studied in the Soto Zen tradition, in the Ridhwan School’s Diamond approach with A. H. Almaas (Hameed Ali), and in the Insight Meditation tradition with Gil Fronsdal PhD, Jack Kornfield PhD, and others. He provides grief counseling and bereavement support for adults and children at Kara kara–grief.org in Palo Alto, where he co-leads men’s grief groups and facilitates retreats for fathers grieving the death of a child. He serves as an Educational Consultant at Kara and directs, teaches and co-facilitates trainings for Kara’s Caregivers Forum and Adult Services Program. Robert sits on the Board of Directors of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies .

You can contact him at: info@thecompassiontrain.com

Lori Wong is the founding teacher of Insight Meditation Central Valley, a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program, and has been offering mindfulness and dharma teachings in the Central Valley since 2009. She has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2003 under the guidance of Gil Fronsdal, who is the principal and founding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) in Redwood City, CA. She is a former board member and former president of IMC, a former board member of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies has volunteered for the Buddhist Pathways Prison Project, and was a founding board member of the Buddhist Insight Network. Lori is also a Stanford-certified Compassion Cultivation Training™ (CCT) teacher, trained through Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education and a senior certified-CCT teacher for the Compassion Institute. She has been teaching the CCT protocol since 2014 for the general public as well as for staff of various agencies, including St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Stockton, the Modesto Vet Center, and Stanislaus County Department of Aging and Veteran Services.

For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products, including essential oils.  This daylong is suitable for all-levels of practitioners.

6 CEs may be available for the following professions through the Spiritual Competency Resource Center. An administrative fee of $25/person for this workshop must be made payable to SCRC.

• CE credits for psychologists are provided by the Spiritual Competency Resource Center (SCRC) which is co-sponsoring this program. The Spiritual Competency Resource Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
• The Spiritual Competency Resource Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content. SCRC is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN Provider CEP16887) for licensed nurses in California.
• The California Board of Behavioral Sciences accepts CE credits for LCSW, LPCC, LEP, and LMFT license renewal for programs offered by approved sponsors of CE by the American Psychological Association.
• For questions about receiving your Certificate of Attendance, contact info@imcv.org. For questions about CE, visit http://www.spiritualcompetency.com or contact David Lukoff, PhD at ce@spiritualcompetency.com.

For additional information, please contact Lori Wong at 209-343-2748.

Please register by May 30th by filling out the form below. Thank you!