Willow Creek Lodge
Ashville, NC

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Willow Creek Lodge
Features Mindfulness with
Dr. Larry Cammarata

Willow Creek features mindfulness workshops as one of our tools in helping our clients achieve emotional regulation and to support what our clients are gaining in the neurofeedback sessions. Below is a detailed description from Dr. Cammarata as well as more information on his background.

Mindfulness is a skill that has been described as, "…paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally" (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 4). Mindfulness meditation is a secular practice that trains an individual's awareness while teaching them to non-reactively cope with the challenges of everyday life without resorting to avoidance or control strategies that have been known to reinforce problem behavior. Mindfulness has been associated with numerous physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits, including reduction of anxiety, relapse prevention for chronic depression, self-regulation, enhanced concentration, increased insight and empathy, improved cardiac functioning, and stress management.

At Willow Creek Lodge, our mindfulness workshops are informed by several empirically validated modalities: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). More than a "meditation class", our mindfulness workshops promote skills that psychiatrist Dan Siegel, MD refers to as, "The 3 Rs" of, "reflection, resilience, and relationships". Over time, the development of these competencies corresponds to changes in brain structure and functioning. Participants learn how to utilize mindfulness in everyday life situations, cultivating the emotional intelligence skills of self-awareness, emotional regulation, intrinsic motivation, empathic understanding, and managing relationships. The attitudes of acceptance, kindness, cooperation, respect, non-judgment, openness, and patience are integrated throughout the workshops.

With the inclusion of a mindful movement component, the mindfulness workshops provide a platform for somatic education, which is being increasingly researched by academic institutions, and applied in the context of coping with stress and healing from trauma. Mindful movement education also provides an opportunity for our clients to develop a sense of competency and self-mastery.

The mindfulness workshops at Willow Creek Lodge offer our clients an inspiring opportunity to learn skills related to the balancing and healing of the mind, body, emotions, and relationships, nothing short of the whole person.

Larry Cammarata, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist practicing in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a Lead Faculty Area Chair of Psychology for the University of Phoenix. His work has been featured at national and international conferences and retreats. Larry is a published author who was designated as an "Author-Expert" by IDEA for his writing, teaching, and practice in the field of mind-body health, fitness, and wellness. He will soon be presenting his work at a leading international scientific conference on mindfulness that is sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

Willow Creek Lodge is a program for young adults offered in a retreat setting near beautiful Glade Mountain just west of Asheville, North Carolina. This intensive 30-45 day program combines clinical interventions with a focus on brain biology and health and wellness to help our clients make progress in addressing trauma issues, emotional dysregulation and other impediments to their progress.