Jane Nathan, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and Research Director at the Stern Center for Language and Learning, recently earned certification in the Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program, which teaches self-care practices that help buffer daily stress, making participants less emotionally and physically vulnerable to it.
Jane shared a poster session of her research at the Cleveland Clinic’s 9th Annual Patient Experience: Empathy + Innovation Summit in June. Her research showed statistically significant benefits of this eight-week stress management training on the health outcomes of patients with chronic conditions, including increased use of mind-body practices, decreased stress and improved symptoms of depression, pain, anxiety and sleep quality. With such findings, medical communities and other stakeholders such as insurance companies are looking for effective interventions that involve the mind-body connection. This growing acceptance is long-overdue in Jane’s view, as her Ph.D. dissertation topic close to three decades ago focused on coping strategies and their impact on mental health.
Jane joins an elite group of 21 other clinicians worldwide who have completed the rigorous certification program since 2016 and are authorized to provide SMART to all kinds of populations from administrators and staff, to individuals, physician and parents. Developed over 40 years of research at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, the SMART program has grown in popularity as research shows the negative impact of stress and the value of such training on well-being and health. A 2015 study found that SMART participants utilized health care up to 43% less the year after taking part, an estimated savings of between $640-25,500 per patient, per year.
Patients working with a certified SMART practitioner learn how to regain control over stress and build resilience through a variety of mind body principles and self-care interventions, leading to reduced medical symptoms and enhanced quality of life.
In addition to directing research at the Stern Center since 2001, Jane has held a faculty appointment in the Family Medicine division at UVM’s Larner College of Medicine for many years. Her recent stress management work with individuals and resident physicians has been generously grant-funded through the UVM Medical Center Foundation and the Frymoyers Scholar Program.
The Stern Center for Language and Learning is a nonprofit educational resource in Williston, VT, dedicated to enriching the lives of learners because all great minds don’t think alike. For 35 years we have worked with children and adults to help them reach their academic, social and professional goals. We provide research-based learning evaluations and customized instruction, including those with learning disabilities, dyslexia, language disorders, social learning challenges, autism, attention deficit disorders and learning differences. We design and deliver customized professional learning programs and system development using current research and trends in education. Through the Cynthia K. Hoehl Institute, we work with schools and individual educators in early literacy, oral language, reading, written language, social cognition, executive functioning and math. Scholarships are available. More information may be found at www.sterncenter.org.