IMA News, Events & Announcements

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STOP SELLING AND START SERVING:
PRACTICAL MARKETING FOR INDEPENDENT HEALTH AND
WELLNESS PRACTICES
Saturday, June 12th, 2004, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
All That Matters Yoga and Holistic Health Center
315 Main Street
Wakefield, RI (35 minutes from Providence, RI and Mystic, CT)

The IMA is proud to offer this three-hour hands-on workshop for independent health and wellness practices, which will be held on Saturday, June 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at All That Matters Yoga and Holistic Health Center on 315 Main Street in Wakefield, RI (35 minutes from Providence, RI and Mystic, CT).  Workshop leader Jennifer Lewy will show you a simple, powerful approach to attracting all the clients you can handle. Based on service to clients, and not selling, this approach will focus and energize your marketing so you can build the business you want with clarity and intention –and without spending a fortune. Whether you have an established practice or have just opened your doors, in this workshop you will identify and address your major “marketing blocks,” discover 3 principles of service-based marketing, use simple tools to develop a cost-effective (and do-able!) marketing plan, and much more. 
Jennifer Lewy is an experienced consultant and writer who has worked to improve marketing communication at health centers large and small across the country. 
Cost: $49 general registration.  (IMA Member Discounts: $36 for IMA Solo Businesses, $24 for Business Partners, FREE for IMA Allied and Patron Businesses).
For more details and travel directions: Email IMA_Events@yahoo.com or call the IMA at (781) 648-9866.
Click here to register Just print and mail our registration form!

ENVISIONING A PEOPLE-CENTERED HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAT BRINGS TOGETHER THE WORLD’S HEALING TRADITIONS
An IMA Workshop at the Boston Social Forum
Friday through Sunday July 23-25, 2004
(Workshop time and location TBD)
U Mass Boston
Boston, MA

On July 23-25, 2004 at the University of Massachusetts at Boston—just before the Democratic National Convention—a coalition of Boston area, progressive community organizations, non-profits, and unions will be hosting an exciting event—the Boston Social Forum ("BSF").  A forum within the World Social Forum process, the BSF has been called to help progressive activists to begin to answer some very basic questions: What kind of future do we want for Boston? For our region? For our nation? For the world? What is our vision of a better society?

As part of this event, the IMA will be asking: What would our healthcare system look like if it were centered more around people and communities and less around insurance and pharmaceutical companies? What if it embraced all the world's great healing traditions instead of relying so heavily on expensive drugs and surgical therapies? If it was financially, socially and ecologically sustainable instead of in its present crisis?”  Join us as we co-create a collective vision of a more people-centered, collaborative, and sustainable healthcare system for Boston, the region, our nation and the world. Both givers and receivers of care of all backgrounds are welcome to take part in this interactive workshop. We will consider a broader definition of health and wellness, envision positive futures, and look at what we need to do today to get to the future we want to see.
Karl Berger, who will facilitate this workshop, coordinates the IMA and has an extensive background in group facilitation and community organizing.
For more information: Contact Julia Smith at IMA_Events@yahoo.com for updates on time and location.  For more details on the Boston Social Forum, visit their website at www.bostonsocialforum.org.

CREATING AN INTEGRATIVE HEALTHCARE PLAN
An IMA-Sponsored Workshop with Karl Berger, ABT, LMT
At the Holistic Perspectives Colloquium
Friday and Saturday, July 30-31, 2004
All That Matters Yoga and Holistic Health Center
315 Main Street
Wakefield, RI (35 minutes from Providence, RI and Mystic, CT)

How do I identify qualified caregivers? How do I get them to work as a team? When should I find another caregiver or try a different modality? How do I afford it all? Join Karl Berger, founder of the Integrative Medicine Alliance, as he walks you through what you need to consider for creating a strategy for your family's health and wellness that embraces both conventional and alternative healthcare resources.

The Holistic Perspectives Colloquium is open to the public and will consist of dynamic business leaders and creative thinkers sharing their own life experiences and offering powerful insights and creative methods from leadership, business and art to transform our homes, workplaces, community and world. Keynote speakers include Alan Seale, award winning author and founder of Full Spectrum Living; Vandita Machesiello, director of the Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association; Dr. Jack Childs, founder of Salve Regina University's Holistic Counseling Program. The HPC will also offer an impressive line-up of experts who will facilitate break-out sessions focusing on our environment, the workplace, health and wellness or simply improving the way you approach life each day.
Cost is $125 for both days (includes lunch) $35 for Friday only.
For more information, to register or to request a catalog:  Contact All That Matters at (401) 782-2126 or visit their website at www.allthatmatters.com/hpc04.html

BOSTON HERBAL TOURS - BOTÁNICAS
CULTURAL USES OF HERBS IN LATINO AND HAITIAN COMMUNITIES
Saturday, October 23, 2004, 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
88 East Newton Street
Boston Medical Center
Boston, MA
CME Credit-approved in partnership with BU School of Medicine

The Integrative Medicine Alliance is proud to cosponsor Boston Herbal Tours:- Botánicas, an initiative the Boston Healing Landscape Project at Boston Medical Center. This unique educational tour will run on Saturday, April 3rd, 2004 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Traditional healing practices originating in Cuba, Haiti, and other parts of the Caribbean flourish in Boston, where local botánicas sell herbs, roots, and other remedies. This tour will take you through a morning of lectures on such herbal medicines by faculty from MGH and the Mass. College of Pharmacy, and on cross-cultural medicine practices by faculty from the BU School of Medicine, followed by an afternoon tour of Boston’s Cuban and Haitian botánicas, with a talk by Cuban santero Steve Quintana, and Vodou priest Erol Josué.
Cost of the tour is $170 including lunch ($145 for IMA members and full-time students!).
For more information and to register: Contact Dr. Linda Barnes at Linda.Barnes@bmc.org  or at 617-414-4534.

BUILDING BRIDGES OF INTEGRATION FOR TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE
October 7-10, 2004
Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel & Conference Center
East Rutherford, NJ
 
The IMA is pleased to be an affiliate partner for this third Building Bridges conference, from October 7-10 at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel and Conference Center in East Rutherford, NJ.  This year a main focus will be women's health and in particular holistic ways to prevent and heal from breast cancer. There will be a separate track addressing breast cancer for professionals and will culminate on Sunday afternoon with a workshop, that is open to the public, that will focus on healing from breast cancer, some everyday tools. Hackensack University's Center for Health and Healing will be a major supporter of this initiative as will other prestigious organizations.
 Conference co-chairs are Xiu-Min Li, MD, assistant professor, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; Mitchell L. Gaynor, MD, head of Gaynor Integrative Oncology and former medical director, Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, Cornell-Weill Medical Center; Frances L. Brisbane, PhD, dean, School of Social Welfare, SUNY at Stony Brook and Nan Lu, OMD, founding director, Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation.
 For more information: Visit the conference website at www.tcmconference.org. Conference attendees will receive CEU or CME credits for attending.  IMA members receive 10% off the conference registration fee.  Go to the registration page and click on affiliate partner to receive the discount.
 

IMA Volunteer of the Month: Theresa Ochenkoski, LMT

The IMA is proud to announce its Volunteer of the Month, Theresa Ochenkoski, LMT.  Theresa, an IMA Business Partner, has volunteered with the IMA for over a year, first with helping us expand our database, and now as our Calendar of Events Coordinator.  Since she began this new role a year ago, on online Calendar has gotten even more packed with interesting healthcare-related events, thanks to her hard work and ingenuity.  Thank you Theresa!

When she’s not at the computer packing our website with events, Theresa is a licensed massage therapist, practicing in Central Square, Cambridge.  She is also a certified Advanced Reiki Practitioner and holds a certification in Pregnancy and Post Partum Massage. She integrates Swedish Massage for restorative work and Myofascial Release along with Deep Tissue Stretch work to help increase circulation for healthier muscle tissue. 30 min, 60 min and 90 min sessions are available.  For more details, you can contact Theresa at toche@bigplanet.com, phone her at (617) 283-8384, or visit her website at http://sdrmarketing.com/toche.

SOME SIMPLE WAYS TO HELP THE IMA

Become a member of the IMA.  One of the most important things you can do to help.  For as little as $50 a year ($25 for students) you can help the IMA bring together caregivers of all healing traditions and provide a voice for the New England’s integrative healthcare community.  Visit  http://www.integrativemedalliance.org/helping_becomeamember.asp and become a member today!

Would you like to volunteer your professional caregiving skills?  If you’re a complementary/alternative caregiver, sign up to volunteer for our Mobile Clinics by e-mailing LivingtheVision@yahoo.com.

Would you like to be our “eyes and ears”?  If you know of a worthwhile upcoming integrative medical event in New England, (large or small!) send date, time and place info to our Calendar of Events Coordinator Theresa Ochenkoski at IMA_Calendar@yahoo.com

Do you like to write?  Send in your news story ideas, commentary, and other writings to our IMA Newsletter Editor Catherine Saar, at catsaar@aol.com

Do you like parties?  If you’d like to host a social or networking gathering of caregivers from many healing traditions at your home or at a public location, we’d be happy to sponsor it and advertise it on our calendar, but please give us 2 month’s advance notice.  E-mail the details to IMA Coordinator Karl Berger at IMA_Karl@yahoo.com.

Would you like to spread the word about us?  We’d want to invite all concerned citizens and caregivers to get our free IMA newsletter.  Send their e-mail addresses (or postal addresses if they have no e-mail) to us at IMA_Maillist@yahoo.com and we’ll invite them to subscribe.  If you’d like to distribute our brochures, we’ll send you some!

If you’d like to make a bigger volunteer commitment: We’re looking for assistance in administration, event planning, fundraising, grant writing, outreach, project management, and public relations.  For more information, visit our Website at www.IntegrativeMedAlliance.org, and under “Helping” click on “Volunteer”.

If you offer free or discounted services and wish to list them on our website, or if you would like us to update you’re a current listing, please email the IMA's Administrator Julia Smith at Admin@integrativemedalliance.org