Presenters
Keynote Speaker Patricia Mathes Cane, PhD
Patricia Mathes Cane, PhD is founder and director of Capacitar International, a multicultural wellness education project that focuses on personal and societal healing and transformation. Pat has taught more than 2,000 bilingual workshops in 30 countries and has developed programs for grassroots groups affected by trauma, violence and disasters in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Pat and the Capacitar team coordinated the Healing Tent for the NGO World Forum on Women in China in 1995. She has a BS in biological studies from the University of San Francisco, MA in psychology from Santa Clara University and a PhD in multicultural wellness education from The Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, OH. She is author of Trauma Healing and Transformation: Awakening a New Heart with Body Mind Spirit Practices (English and Spanish), as well as numerous Capacitar manuals that are available in different languages.
Nan Bell is community educator/audit coordinator in the Family Violence Project’s Waterville Outreach Office. Nan has worked as an educator for the Family Violence Project since 1998, focusing on raising awareness about the issue of domestic violence and creating social change with community groups, businesses and systems in Kennebec and Somerset counties. She is a survivor of domestic abuse and shares her story to help others understand the effects of domestic violence on women and children in our communities.
Scott Bullock, MGH president/CEO, has more than 35 years of health care leadership experience. He joined Mid-Maine Medical Center as president and CEO in 1991 and led the merger of Mid-Maine Health Systems and Kennebec Health System to form MaineGeneral Health in 1997. He has been active in a number of community and professional service organizations including the Alfond Youth Center; the Augusta Board of Trade; Central Maine Growth Council; Maine Hospital Association; Waterville Development Corporation; and Waterville Rotary Club.
Dale Marie Clark, RN is executive director of Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area (HVWA). A nurse for more than 20 years, the untimely accidental deaths of her husband and son in 1988 led Dale to her involvement in hospice and grief support. She has led the way in developing the overall hospice bereavement program including Hope's Place, a year-round program for grieving children and teens. She also founded and organizes Camp Ray of Hope, HVWA's annual statewide retreat for grieving families and individuals which was launched in 1995.
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. Fred’s book, Positive Spirituality in Health Care: Nine Practical Approaches to Pursuing Wholeness for Clinicians, Patients and Health Care Organizations, was published this spring by Mill City Press.
Jillian Fortin serves as youth services coordinator at Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area, where she develops and implements bereavement and end-of-life peer support services for children, teens and their families. Jill also recruits and trains volunteer facilitators who provide youth services and coordinates Hope's Place, a year-round program for grieving children and teens, and plans and coordinates Camp Ray of Hope, HVWA's annual statewide retreat for grieving families and individuals.
Amy Morrison, MA, LMHC, ATR is a doctoral candidate in expressive therapy at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Her research interests include mindfulness, early attachment formation and the use of metaphor. As professor at Lesley College and Endicott College, she has taught a range of art therapy courses that include exploring intersections between the arts and healing. She is a licensed mental health counselor and registered art therapist in private practice centered around holistic healing. As an exhibiting artist, Amy's artwork explores interconnection, integration and mindful awareness.
The Rev. Nancy L. Needham, MA, LMT has a private practice in energy medicine in Concord, NH. An ordained nondenominational minister of natural healing in the Healing Light Center Church, Nancy has more than 25 years of experience in laying-on-of-hands healing and works in accordance with the sacred esoteric tradition of direct transmission of energy, knowledge and wisdom.
Kevin L. Polk, PhD has been the director of the post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) intensive treatment programs at the Togus Veterans Administration hospital for 20 years. Dr. Polk has been extensively trained in EMDR, CBT and Prolonged Exposure for PTSD. Over the past six years he and his colleagues at Togus and in his private practice (The Psychological Flexibility Group), have used Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) with PTSD. He consults with PTSD and substance abuse programs around the world in the programmatic implementation of ACT with PTSD, substance abuse and eating disorders.
Dustin Sulak, DO is an osteopathic physician, healing arts practitioner, clinical hypnotherapist and Reiki Sensei. He has studied with a Lakota medicine chief, a Lubavitcher rabbi, allopathic and osteopathic physicians and several teachers of yoga, qi gong, tai chi, meditation, Reiki and other healing arts. He practices integrative medicine, osteopathic manipulation, hypnotherapy and energy medicine in a private practice in Hallowell, Maine.
The Rev. Dr. Rachel Taber-Hamilton is a board certified chaplain with the Association of Professional Chaplains and is also certified in critical incident stress management. In addition to her theological/chaplaincy training and divinity degree, she holds a PhD in folklore studies from Indiana University. Rachel has served in health care ministry for 17 years. She is the director of Pastoral Care for MaineGeneral Health.
Deb Thurston is community outreach and education coordinator at Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area. Deb builds relationships with schools, colleges, counselors, churches and business organizations. She trains and coordinates the speaker's bureau to promote the mission and services of HVWA through marketing, speaking engagements and public relations. She also coordinates the Certified Hospice Volunteer Training and provides educational workshops for volunteers and the community.