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Retreat for Healthcare Workers

  • Holy Family Passionist Retreat Center 303 Tunxis Road West Hartford, CT, 06107 United States (map)

Retreat for Healthcare Workers

A Time to Care for Those Who Care for Others

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Monday, June 29, 2020
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

This one-day online retreat is for healthcare workers who have been working on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tentative Program Schedule, subject to change:

  • 9:30 a.m. - Welcome

  • 9:45 a.m. - Mental and Spiritual Wellbeing in a Pandemic with Dr. Michael Norko

  • 10:30 a.m. - Questions and discussion

  • 11:15 a.m. - Your choice of Yoga, Healing Harp or Centering Prayer

  • 12:00 p.m. - Break for Lunch

  • 1:00 p.m. - How to Stay Healthy in Times of Chaos with Dr. Guy Carbone

  • 1:45 p.m. - Questions and discussion

  • 2:30 p.m. - Your Choice of either Yoga, Healing Harp or Centering Prayer

  • 3:15 p.m. - Final gathering and closing

This program will be offered online via the Zoom platform. Information on how to access the program will be emailed to registered participants in advance.

This day program is offered FREE OF CHARGE for all care workers.


Presentations and Presenter Profiles


Mental and Spiritual Wellbeing in a Pandemic

The required individual and communal responses to the dangers of COVID-19 have disrupted the patterns and stability of our lives in ways that most people have not experienced before.  Healthcare workers have faced enormous challenges and stresses in responding dutifully and faithfully to the needs of the sick. In this session, we will discuss these events in a frame of emotional and spiritual wellbeing and development.

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Dr. Michael Norko

Michael Norko MD, MAR is a Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, specializing in the intersections of psychiatry and the law. His other area of interest is the intersection of psychiatry and religion/spirituality, on which he has published multiple articles in professional journals. He earned a master’s degree in Religion from Yale Divinity School in 2010. He has taught a course on psychiatry, religion, and spirituality at Yale, is Chair of the Psychiatry and Religion Committee of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry and the Law, and Secretary of the Caucus on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association.  


How to Stay Healthy in Times of Chaos

We have all been in the midst of a constantly unfolding crisis which has had long-range effects on our physician and emotional health. This conference will offer practical ways to address ways to maintain good health with emphasis on strengthening your immune system with proper nutrition supplementation and thinking.

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Dr. Guy Carbone

Dr. Guy Carbone received his Bachelor of Science degree in nutrition from the University of Rhode Island and his Doctorate of Chiropractic from New York Chiropractic College. He has done extensive study in nutrition and sports-related injuries. Dr. Carbone's special focus is family health and athletic performance. He is currently board eligible for Diplomate in Neurology. He lectures frequently to local colleges, businesses and community organizations on topics such as wellness, stress, nutrition and chiropractic.


Therapeutic Harp

Connect with Marcie Swift, a psychologist and Certified Music Practitioner of the Harp, as she offers her inspiring therapeutic Celtic harp. The therapeutic harp has been scientifically researched as a powerful intervention to reduce pain, stress, insomnia, depression and symptoms of trauma. Often described as the ladder between this world and the next, therapeutic harp can awaken us to our most authentic selves.  

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Marcie Swift

Marcie Swift integrates her two greatest passions, psychology and music, to inspire and offer healing and support at retreat centers, assisted living centers, places of worship, schools and hospitals. She enchants audiences with her storytelling and music with guided imagery and meditation. To learn more about Marcie and her music, visit marcieswift.com or fiddleharp.com.


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Ellen Graham

Ellen Graham is an experienced spiritual director and teacher of yoga and mindfulness meditation. She also leads centering prayer workshops as part of Holy Family Retreat Center's Youth Ministry team. She holds a bachelor's degree in nursing.  


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Robin Kirsche

Robin Kirsche is a certified yoga instructor and yoga therapist with 30 years’ experience teaching students of all levels and abilities. She has also worked in the healthcare field for most of her career, including outpatient physical therapy. The study and practice of yoga has been an amazing journey of self-development, health and healing for Robin, and she is grateful to be sharing it with others.


Earlier Event: June 20
Healing Harp: A Cradle of Sound
Later Event: June 30
Retreat for Healthcare Workers