‪Presentations 2017

9:15-10:00 PRESENTATION:
"BOUNDARIES: WHY DO WE NEED THEM"

  • What if we had no boundaries?
  • What are boundaries anyway?
  • Passive—Assertive—Aggressive Styles
  • How to set limits
  • Broken Record Technique
  • When to judiciously make exceptions
DR. TAMARRA CRAWFORD, PH.D., ABPP

Dr. Tamarra Crawford was born and primarily raised in San Antonio, Texas. Tamarra was raised by her parents, who were ethnically diverse and free spirited individuals. At the time of her birth, her parents were working in a Children’s Home called, “Boysville.”  For the next 14 years of her life, she was raised amongst the clients of Boysville, many of which were boys and a few girls. It was through this experience that Dr. Crawford became encouraged to explore how Psychologists help to empower children, adolescents, and teenagers to live life on their own healthy terms at the early points of their lives.  While she was in college, Dr. Crawford returned to the children’s home, Boysville, and began working as a part-time houseparent. After she graduated from college, she moved to the bay area of California, where she began Graduate School at Palo Alto University.  While in Graduate School, Dr. Crawford became a research assistant at the Palo Alto Department of Veteran’s Affairs. As a research assistant, she served under some of the department’s Geriatric Experts, thus sparking her interest in the opposite end of the aging spectrum.  Dr. Crawford began to see that her interests in gender, culture, ethnicity, socio economic status, and other aspects of Diversity were nurtured in Geropsychology, opening a new door to a bright and promising career in this field. Dr. Crawford’s passion for exploring impact of historical events, changes in the human and civil rights movements, and personal family experiences on aging became her life’s mission. Dr. Crawford is board certified in Geropsychology. Dr. Crawford, a courageous and articulate young woman, is a mother of two young children.   During her 10 year career in the VA, Dr. Crawford is grateful for the challenges of her work and personal life, and she is humbled and honored to be able to serve America’s Veterans every day.

10:00-10:45 PRESENTATION:
​"THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING: EXPLORING THE MIND BODY CONNECTION"

Health Care providers have discussed the connection between or mental and physical health for centuries. Until the early 1800’s, most believed that emotions were linked to disease and advised patients to visit spas, seaside resorts or other relaxing places when they were ill. Gradually this lost favor as other causes of illness were discovered and specific treatments were available. Recently scientists have speculated that even behavioral disorders have a biological basis. However, over the past 20 years, mind-body medicine has provided evidence that psychological factors can play a major role in illness and that mind-body techniques can aid in their treatment. We will explore the power of the mind and its role in illness, along with different mind-body therapies that can easily be incorporated into everyday life. This session will allow participants to practice one of the techniques described. Join in the Power of Positive Thinking!!
TRACEY BRAYMAN, FNP

Tracey is the Women’s Health Primary Care Provider at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in nursing from the University of Wyoming and her Master’s Degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She has 20+ years of experience. As a registered nurse, she worked in ICU, ER and as a flight nurse. After receiving her master’s degree, she worked in the emergency room at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for 5 years and then at the Cheyenne VA Medical Center emergency room for another 5 years before transitioning to Women’s Health. While in the ER at the Cheyenne VA, she was the women’s health champion and worked closely with the women’s clinic staff to ensure the best care for the women veteran population. Her hobbies include cooking/baking, shooting sports, jeeping, other outdoor activities, and spending time with her husband and 2 dogs.

11:00-11:45 PRESENTATION:
​"SPIRITUAL FITNESS - LIVE B.I.G!"

Just as our bodies and minds crave fitness, so too does our spirit. Spiritual fitness is leaning on our faith or spirituality to gain wisdom, strength and guidance for everyday living. Spiritual Fitness – Live B.I.G! Is a primer in spiritual fitness and the tenets of it.
‘B’ is for Blessings: Leah will share ways to manage stress so we are better able focus on life’s blessings.
‘I’ is for Intention: Tools, tips and techniques for time management will be shared so attendees can uncover better ways to shut down some of the busy-ness of life and live with intention.
‘G’ is for Gratitude: Being grateful for all the good in our lives, despite hardship, helps us on our path to spiritual fitness. Leah will discuss resilience and ways we can accentuate it in our lives
LEAH BRAUN, MSGT. (RET.)

Leah retired from the South Dakota National Guard at the rank of Master Sergeant after 22 years of military service.  Her military service allowed her to hone her passion for working with people. Leah Braun is the principal of Harney Business Group. They provide customized consulting, training and coaching to small and medium sized businesses, organizations and individuals to help them reach the next level. She has coached many clients through a variety of professional and personal issues. She conducts numerous seminars and retreats throughout South Dakota in topics ranging from customer service to work-and-life balance. Leah has a teaching degree from Black Hills State University and a Master of Science in administrative studies with an emphasis in counseling from University of South Dakota. Leah is a Certified Professional Coach, credentialed through the International Coach Federation. She and her husband, Adam, have been married for 23 years. They have 3 busy children and are very active in the community.

11:45-12:30 PRESENTATION:
​"INTUITIVE EATING"

There seems to be no end to the messages telling us we need to lose weight; they come from our medical community, the media, our friends, our family, and our government health offices. Sixty per cent of American women would like to lose weight and more are told that they should. Weight loss often seems to be the primary focus of health interventions. Girls as young as 5 commonly display dissatisfaction with their bodies and a desire to lose weight. But what if our focus on weight loss and weight as an indicator of health is doing more harm than good? In this presentation, Margaret will explore the negative impact that a weight-focused approach to health can have and discuss an alternative. Margaret will introduce the concepts of “Health at Every Size” and “Intuitive Eating” and how these two approaches are much more likely to have a positive impact on your health than counting calories. You will begin thinking about how you can make peace with food and with your body and adopt a holistic approach to health and wellness that can be sustained for the rest of your life.
MARGARET WILSON, CAPT.
Registered Dietitian, Chief of Nutrition and Food Service at the Sheridan VAHCS
Margaret is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and is the Chief of Nutrition and Food Service at the Sheridan VAHCS. Margaret began her career as a Dietitian in the Army where for the first few years she managed the Active Duty Weight management program as well as provided Weight Management Nutrition Therapy to Veterans.  While her practice was primarily weight management, Margaret began to see the shortfalls of the conventional weight loss paradigm. She saw many patients who had been trying to permanently lose weight for 5, 10, 20, or even 30 or more years. She began to see that such a focus on weight was having a detrimental (rather than beneficial) effect on many of her patients’ lives. The sense of failure that accompanied weight regain was pervasive and saddening.  After about 2.5 years she discovered the work of Dietitians Tribole and Reysch, “Intuitive Eating”. It changed her entire perspective on weight, health and nutrition. Since then, she has been an avid reader of literature surrounding intuitive eating, and a supporter of Health at Every Size and a non-dieting, non-weight focused approach to health and nutrition. Margaret is currently working on her Intuitive Eating certification. Margaret has her Bachelor’s Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Hawai’i, her Master’s in Nutrition from Baylor University, and completed her Dietetic Internship at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Margaret left the Army as a Captain in 2016 after 6 years of Service.

1:30-2:15 PRESENTATION:
​HEALING MEDITATION  (**To be held inside**)

The presentation will entail a full-encompassing definition of mindfulness/meditation, its applicability to daily living, benefits, and practice. Presentation will also describe research findings on meditation as it relates to mind, body, spirit, self-empowerment, and growth. The audience will have an opportunity to practice meditation. This presentation will be an open discussion with full input/questions from the audience.
DR. VIVIANNE TRAN, PSY.D

Dr. Tran attended graduate school in Tampa, FL and obtained her Clinical Psychology degree in 2008. She worked full-time first as a psychology intern, then postdoctoral student and later as a licensed psychologist in the Wyoming State Hospital from 2006 to 2011. She was hired at the Sheridan VAMC in December 2011. Her personal and professional interests are in mindfulness and meditation. She has attended two 10-day silent meditation retreats and multiple trainings in mindfulness, including Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Her additional interests are applying and continuing to learn ways to empower people to reach their full potential.

2:15-3:00 PRESENTATION:
"PUTTING TOGETHER THE PEACE PUZZLE"

Inner peace is a highly sought after commodity and we go down many avenues searching for it.  In this discussion, we will be looking at what peace really is, what components bring us peace (sneak peek: grace, gratitude and humility) and the challenges that rob us of our peace (distractions and expectations).  It is through inner peace that we are fully able to access our joy, love and hope.   Is it always easy? Nope!  Is it attainable?  Yes!
TRISH BANNON, MA LPC
Trish received her Master of Science in Clinical Psychology from Emporia State University in 1992 and has worked as a licensed counselor for 25 years.  She has worked in a variety of counseling settings for 30 years, one of her favorite being as the Director of Psychological Health for the Wyoming National Guard from 2009-2016.  She currently serves as the Clinical Directory and Chief Operating Officer of Mind Spa Counseling Center in Cheyenne.  In this capacity, she provides both guidance to therapists and also works with clients to heal wounds and make necessary decisions.  Her gift is to see the best in people and to carry a torch of hope when others are feeling disappointed, hurt or sad.  She is the mother of one son, active in her church and adores spending time with family and friends.  She loves to cook, crochet and is an avid sports fan.
On a personal note:  I have had a personal relationship with the Lord for the past 13 years and work to have love, joy, peace and grace each day.  Some days take more work than others.  I am more than delighted to have been asked to share my journey and perspective with you in a genuine and thought provoking way.  Peace my Friends!

3:15-3:45 PRESENTATION:
"HATHA YOGA"  (**To be held OUTSIDE**)

Yoga means union or “yoking”  Hatha means Sun and Moon. The ability to bring Energy into Balance. Yoga is not a Religion but rather a Science that understands the health of the mind and the health of the body move together rather than separate and apart. Bring all of that into a connection with your breath, Yoga then becomes a moving meditation not merely focussing on the series of postures that you do but rather the peace of mind and body those postures bring. It is not just a work out, because you can sweat, but rather a working within. The goal is to get into your body so you can calm the activities of your mind. Lorna will “Guide” you through a  Hatha practice which includes Centering, Warm up, Salutation, Postures, Movement, Relaxation and Meditation Any level, Beginner or Advanced can participate.  Namaste
LORNA CHERRY
MBS Hatha Yoga Instructor, T'AI CHI Instructor

​Lorna received her BS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a degree in Environmental Science.   She received her teaching Certification from  LACC. Initially working in Laboratories and Research she finally landed in the Animal Health Care Field.  Lorna retired as a Small Animal Health Technician in  2015 after over 30 years. During that time she also established an Art Studio and coached competitive softball for 10 years. 
Always active in sports and outdoor activities she was drawn to Yoga with the desire to find a deeper meaning in strength, balance, flexibility, breath and fitness.  After practicing for many years she was encouraged to become a certified Instructor. She is Certified through AAAI/ISMA  as a MBS Hatha Yoga Instructor and T’AI CHI Instructor. She has been Guiding classes in Cheyenne  Wyoming for 6 years.  She has additional training in Chi Gong, Kundalini  and Vinyasa Flow while doing extensive research with Mudras and Pranayama or breath.  
She believes that if you can breathe you can do yoga. 

Lorna has been married to her husband Kevin for 37 years,  They have 2 children and 4 beautiful grandchildren. They enjoy camping and hiking with their family and their two beloved German Wirehair Pointers Hoss and Tucker. Lorna is also a Laramie County Master Gardener. 
She is humbled and honored to participate in this years conference.