Dr. Tammi Milliken

Overview of Harvard Mind/Body Education Initiative

Dr. Tammi F. Milliken is an Assistant Professor of Human Services at Old Dominion University.  She received her PhD in Counselor Education from the College of William and Mary. Tammi has experience as a school counselor, Director of a substance abuse prevention program, and a family counselor. She is an endorsed Harvard Mind/Body Stress Management Education Initiative facilitator and trainer, a National Certified Counselor, and a Human Services- Board Certified Practitioner. Tammi has been conducting stress management workshops, locally, regionally, and nationally since 2000. Recent publications include: Sudden Traumatic Loss: Promoting Early Intervention in the Critical Care Setting; and The Impact of Stress Reduction on Nurse Productivity and Retention.

The Harvard Mind/Body approach to stress reduction was developed by Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard University. This approach aims to help individuals deliberately elicit a relaxation response through a variety of stress reducing techniques, many of which can be conducted anytime, anywhere. Research has shown this approach to reduce blood pressure and hypertension, anxiety, chronic pain, asthma, migraines, heart disease, sleep disorders, and burn-out in adults, and to improve academic performance, attendance, behavior, and self-esteem in children. The approach is valuable both personally and for use with patients, clients, students, and staff for a variety of helping professionals including nurses, supervisors, counselors, teachers, social workers, and managers.

Consequences of stress:

• More than a third of workers (36 %) say physical illness and ailments result from stress at work.
• Stress costs American industry more than $300 billion annually in lost hours due to absenteeism, reduced productivity and workers compensation benefits.
• Anxiety-related disorders cost the U.S. $42 billion a year in work-related medical losses.
• 43 percent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress.
• Work-related stress can double one’s risk of dying from heart disease.

Purpose of workshops:

• To improve workplace productivity by enhancing the mental, physical, emotional and behavioral well-being of employees through stress reduction training.

Workshop goals:

• Increase awareness of biological reactions to stress and its effects on individuals as well as the workplace.
• Reduce or prevent absenteeism, attrition or burnout. Increase productivity.
• Improve the well-being of employees.
• Reduce healthcare costs.
• Increase awareness of interventions and resources to manage stress.

What is addressed in the workshops:

• Common reactions to stress
• How stress manifests at work
• Stress management strategies
• Strategies for restructuring the work environment
• Referral sources

Target audience:

• Managers
• Supervisors
• Human Resources Personnel
• Training & Development Professionals
• Counselors/Social Workers/Psychologists
• Teachers
• Employees
• Students

Workshop options:

• Half day
• Feb 20th, and April 3rd: from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
• Full Day
• Customized to suit an organization’s needs

Measurable results:

• Decrease in absenteeism
• Decrease in use of substitutes (i.e. agency nurses)
• Decrease in cost of medical expenses
• Increase in retention over time

Increase in consumer satisfaction (i.e. patients)