Presenters
Keynote Speaker Joanne Dahl, PhD, Joanne Dahl, PhD, serves as associate professor and senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Uppsala, Sweden. A graduate of Earlham College in Indiana, Dr. Dahl received her doctoral training in Sweden and has practiced and taught there since the late 1970s. In addition to an active program of international lecturing, she has held visiting faculty positions at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts.
Dr. Dahl has been a pioneer in the application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for chronic pain. ACT is described as "third generation" cognitive behavior therapy, incorporating elements of mindfulness and committed action to help people learn to live with pain and pursue meaningful living. Her books include widely cited resources for professionals (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain) and for self-help (Living Beyond Your Pain: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Ease Chronic Pain), published by New Harbinger in 2005 and 2006. Her latest professional book, The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy: Helping Clients Discover, Explore, and Commit to Valued Action Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, is scheduled to be published this summer.
Becky Bell, RN, MSN, HN-BC has acquired a deep appreciation for authentic caringhealing practices and processes that have helped transform her life and that of others. She is a certified holistic stress management instructor and has taught a variety of wellness classes for community and workplace staff. Becky is a staff developer of outreach education at The Acadia Hospital in Bangor and is enrolled in the Integrative Healing Arts Program at The Birchtree Center in Florence, MA.
Jonathan Borkum, PhD is a psychologist at Health Psych Maine who specializes in treating chronic pain. He is a faculty associate at the University of Maine and the author of Chronic Headaches (Erlbaum, 2007).
Julianne Bousquet, MDiv has been an educator and an active member of a hospice team for 25 years. She has lectured extensively on the spiritual issues of the dying and their families. In addition, she is a hospice educator in the communities in which she serves. Julianne has been a hospice chaplain for HealthReach HomeCare & Hospice for the past 11 years.
Brenda Colfer, CH, RMT is a certified hypnotherapist, Reiki teacher, Quantum-Touch instructor, Crystal Bowl Healing Meditation facilitator and energy intuitive, practicing in Augusta.
Frederic C. Craigie, PhD is a faculty member at the Maine- Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency and the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School. He has spoken and written extensively about spirituality and health care and has coordinated the Nevola Symposium since it began in 1987.
Marc Felix, PhD is the former clinical director of the American Pain Foundation in New Bedford, MA. He is currently a psychotherapist in private practice in Camden, emphasizing couples and spiritually-grounded work with individuals. After two decades of apprenticeship with an Apache medicine chief, Marc has come to integrate a shamanic approach with more traditional psychotherapy.
Jackie Fournier, NP, C is a nurse practitioner with Maine- Dartmouth Family Practice in Fairfield. She has more than 20 years experience in hospice and palliative care in community settings and recently co-chaired a group that has developed a policy on palliative sedation.
Gretchen Breyller Hegeman, PhD earned her doctorate in integrative health care exploring the health and healing intersections of functional medicine, behavioral medicine, transpersonal medicine, public health, allopathic medicine and traditional medicine. Combined with her master’s in counseling, she facilitates individuals in finding and understanding their innate, intuitive way to be in this world along their continuum of health. Presenting at conferences and seminars across the US and Germany, she delights in teaching people to understand the energetic and holistic nature of health and healing.
Rick Hobbs, MD, FAAFP, DABMA is board certified in family medicine and medical acupuncture and a former faculty member of Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency. He is now in private practice specializing in acupuncture and integrative medicine. His training includes residency at Maine- Dartmouth, a one-year program in medical acupuncture at the University of Alberta and a three-month sabbatical in China doing research and advanced clinical work.
Nidhi Jain, MD, MPH is a senior resident at the Maine- Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency who has worked in AIDS prevention, polio eradication and promoting intergenerational and multicultural understanding. She has been a practitioner and teacher of yoga for many years.
Celia McLay, DO is medical director/physiatrist at the Maine Rehabilitation Institute of MaineGeneral Medical Center.
The Rev. Dr. Rachel Taber-Hamilton holds her master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, a master of divinity degree from Loyola University Chicago, and a PhD in folklore studies from Indiana University in Bloomington. She is a specialist in cultural cosmology and the analysis of cultural symbol systems and their transmission through ritual and story. Rachel's maternal heritage from the First Nations Shackan People of British Columbia also informs her approach to the spiritual care of those who are ill, in pain or approaching the end of life. As a nationally board-certified chaplain, Rachel has served in health care ministry for 16 years. She is the director of Pastoral Care for MaineGeneral Health.
James A. Schneid, MD is the residency chair of the Maine- Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency, having been a teacher of family medicine since 1983.
Tammy SingingStone and Cheryl Autumn Wind are of Mik’maq descent, residing in central Maine and are singers, songkeepers and drummers of indigenous music from North America. They travel throughout New England and Canada to perform and promote healing through traditional teachings of the Native American drum.
Jenifer Van Deusen, MEd supports the development of curriculum, instructional approaches and assessments and other projects at the Maine-Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency. Her background includes successful organization development, training and grant writing experience.
Stacy Whitcomb-Smith, PhD is a psychologist in Waterville with special interests in anxiety disorders, chronic pain and health management.