Showing results by author "Sr. Carole Riley Ph.d." in All Categories

In this interactive seminar, Dr. Riley will present symptoms of compassionate fatigue and strategies for recovery and healthy practices during intense periods of caregiving. Participants will be directed in goal development for prevention of fatigue and depression associated with caregiving. In addition, self-care activities, methods of balancing living and a bibliography to support continued learning will be provided.

Sr. Carole attempts to address the painful reality of denying denial. Denial is basically a defense mechanism in which a person is faced with facts that are too uncomfortable to accept and ultimately rejects them, insisting that they are not true, despite what may be overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The concept of denying of denial involves thoughts, actions and behaviors, which bolster confidence that nothing needs to be changed in one's personal behavior.

Guilt is an almost inevitable part of the human experience, yet we are sometimes at a loss to know how to heal the guilt within us. Can we bear it gracefully? Can we release it? Can we avoid poisoning our relationships with guilt that we have not processed appropriately? Yes, we can, Sr. Carole tells us. But we must begin by accepting it and understanding its roots in our childhood, in our expectations of others and ourselves.

In two presentations, Dr. Riley addresses the grieving process and describes steps for grief recovery. The use of a loss-graph and relationship-graph foster healing of emotional hurts and other issues that remain from unfinished emotional grieving. Safe exercises for a person to work alone or with a grief partner are described. In these talks, Dr. Riley provides many helpful examples as well as an outline for personal use.

Sr. Riley explores the dynamics of depression in the Church. She offers insights into this dark reality and gives practical suggestions for dealing with depression. She shows how physical activity, prayer, ritual, meditation, music, friendly support, and counseling can aid in lifting a person out of the darkness.

Sr. Carole Riley describes what healthy spiritual relationships are and how to establish them. The presentation also covers how to heal broken or dying relationships and how to end essentially destructive relationships. The skills presented here are immediately applicable and can change both the dynamics of how individuals interact and how the Christian community as a whole gels in its life in the Lord. She presents the keys to mindful loving.

Denial, anger, depression, and anxiety block the path to freedom. Hostile environments at home and work feed our sense of being out of control and under attack. To deal with these realities, Sr. Riley introduces the listener to a series of meditation techniques that address our unhealthy defense mechanisms, face our fears, and begin to understand the peace and strengths that come from utilizing the insights of mystics as well as psychologists.

Using the Principle of mindfulness spiritual practice, this seminar will focus on strategies for healing the caregiver. Techniques of journaling, therapeutic writing, mindfulness practice, and spiritual integration will provide the participant with necessary tools of self-care.

Participants will learn sound-based techniques for self-healing-techniques that anyone can use, whether facing life-threatening disease or simply seeking relief from the stresses of daily life. Music, vocalization, breathing and meditation techniques will be used. Suggestions for playing healing music at the bedside of the sick and dying will be given. Use music, whether (sung, played, live or recorded) as healing sound power.

In addition to her continuous post as professor at Duquesne, her past roles have included assistant dean of the music school, chair of the piano department, and membership on numerous committees and boards. She has received the President’s Award for Excellence in Community Service and was honored with membership in the Century Club of Distinguished Alumni.

This seminar will focus on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy techniques proven to be effective for depressions, anxiety, stress, addictions, eating disorders and borderline personality disorders. The six techniques of ACT will be presented with extensive bibliographical resources. Some experiential worksheets will concretize the theory.