Kitty Breen
Teaching to Back Pain
It is hoped that soon to be released results from a major study on The Alexander Technique and Back Pain will help establish the AT as one of the most powerful techniques for helping people minimize/overcome back pain. Do our students with back pain have different learning needs? In this presentation we will explore what some of those needs might be and ways to address them.
The presentation/workshop will be conducted in two parts:
Part I will share observations and strategies including The Educated Back series, an 8-week course created to complement private lessons for students with back pain. The course appears to accelerate the learning process and also to deepen students’ ability and motivation for a more conscious integration of the Alexander Technique in their daily lives. Students report greater self-responsibility and self-ability to integrate the technique. Teaching tools, motivational methods and teaching strategies will be shared and discussed.
Part II will be a “sharing best ideas and practice” open workshop where it is hoped that other teachers will share other “back-pain specific” teaching strategies and successful techniques. If possible, please contact the instructor ahead of time to ensure format and time allotments. “Alexander” inspired back exercises will also be explored and evaluated.
Kitty Breen suffered debilitating back pain after a life-threatening car accident when 19 years old. She took years of private Alexander lessons (with Charlotte Coe Lemann and Jerry Sontag) before completing her teacher training at The Center for The Alexander Technique (with Ed and Linda Avak). She is STAT and AmSAT certified. She further benefited from postgraduate study at The Center for Constructive Learning (with Ruth Murray, Dilys and Walter Carrington).
A former career educator and program designer, Kitty has won numerous national awards and international recognition for her educational program designs. The Educated Back series as well as A Place for Teachers, invitational 3-day professional development workshops featuring John Nicholls, grew out of this experience. She has given talks and presentations to practitioners at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Osher Center) and to the Osher fellows and faculty at Harvard Medical School, and holds her M.B.A. from Yale University.
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