WELLNESS Workshops

“The world is always evolving and so are you. Remember that you are human and the tides of life shift and vary. Goals one day may no longer be relevant another or need adjusting to accommodate life; that is okay because that is living. It is what you do with the awareness of shifts in life that offers you the opportunity to maximize your potential and enhance your quality of life. Not always easy but a necessity to grow.”
~Dr. Nicole Arcuri Sanders

FREE RESOURCES

✨ FREE Download ✨
👉 Download your FREE PDF: 5 Reflective Prompts to Discover What’s Holding You Back

Are you ready for change, but not sure what’s standing in the way?
This short but powerful PDF gives you guided space to:
✔️ Identify invisible blocks to growth
✔️ Clarify what change really means to you
✔️ Take your next step from exactly where you are

📝 Begin your self-guided reflection today — and if you’re ready to go deeper, explore the full course:
🌐 Change & Growth while Facing Reality

ON-DEMAND, DOWNLOADABLE COURSES

Learning Method: Recorded asynchronous distance (non-interactive). This course includes a recorded video and access to the presented resources.

Change & Growth while Facing Reality
The idea of “change” and “growth” is examined in relation to a person’s unique experience, “their reality”. Each individual experiences the world differently (i.e., resources, barriers, culture, experiences). The uniqueness of each person’s journey will be examined for the purpose of recognizing what is and is not realistic when seeking change and/or growth in one’s life. This is a wellness educational session. Dr. Nicole Arcuri Sanders (Dr. A) will be exploring mental health approaches in a general format to aid participants to individualize and apply the skills to their own lives. This is not a therapy/counseling session. Therapeutic progression may be experienced, but the intentions of the class are to support wellness attainment with education and the opportunity to engage in experiential practice.

Dr. A’s wellness courses are specifically designed for individuals who want to enhance their quality of life. Dr. A is a firm believer that providing individuals with wellness skills can offer opportunities to experience wellness without needing to always seek mental health provider assistance with each new or troublesome experience. Concepts and strategies are taught for participants to apply in how they see fit when applicable. Counseling services on average range from $100-$250 for each session. Dr. A desires to not only enhance access to mental health support but also destigmatize mental health while enhancing access to wellness. With the purchase of the course, participants will be able to complete this one (1) hour course at their own convenience and revisit the recording and material as needed when needed.

Objectives
Participants will be able to:

·       Identify personal resources and barriers relevant to personal growth and change

·       Define personal change and/or growth goal(s)

·       Develop change and/or growth goals accounting for future shifts in life, even the ones you are not aware of yet

Cost: $50.00
Purchase here: here!

NOT SURE IF THIS COURSE IS FOR YOU?

FREE PDF DOWNLOAD
📝 “5 Reflective Prompts to Discover What’s Holding You Back”

A short but powerful self-guided tool to help you:

• Identify invisible blocks to change

• Clarify what growth means to you

• Take your next step from where you really are

Managing Motherhood Stress: Tools for New and Seasoned Moms💕: Live and Self-paced option
Coming Soon: Expected Launch, August 2025
Cost: 90 minute workshop: $30.00   ;  Self-paced course: $50.00
✨ Motherhood is beautiful… but it can also be exhausting. ✨
Whether you’re a new mom adjusting to sleepless nights or a seasoned mom juggling endless responsibilities — stress and guilt don’t have to define your motherhood journey. Join me for a supportive, practical workshop:
In this 90 minute session, you’ll discover:
✅ 3 simple stress-management techniques you can start using immediately
✅ How to let go of guilt and perfectionism in parenting
✅ Personalized strategies to find more balance in daily life

The Reality of Acceptance:
Coming Soon: Expected Launch, September 2025
Self-Paced Mental Health Course: Embracing Change and Personal Growth
Course Overview:
This self-paced course empowers you to navigate life’s challenges by understanding and practicing acceptance at your own pace. You’ll:
✅ Explore what acceptance truly means and how it supports mental wellness
✅ Learn practical strategies for managing stress, uncertainty, and emotional barriers
✅ Develop personalized tools for growth while facing your unique realities
Format:
- Fully self-paced online modules
- Interactive exercises, reflection prompts, and practical activities
- Accessible anytime, anywhere, to fit your schedule
Who This Course is For:
Individuals seeking personal growth, emotional flexibility, and resilience in everyday life, without the pressure of live sessions.
Cost: TBA

Radical Acceptance within the Body:
Coming Soon: Expected Launch September 2025
*Movement will be incorporated. This course is intended to support you where you are at in your journey, provide you with tools to engage in mindfulness practices, and find release through movement, dance, and music while remaining focused on your desired sense of wellness.
Cost: TBA

Brain and Craves: Comfort Pathways: One (1) hour class.
Coming Soon: Expected Launch October 2025
Struggling with stress or emotional eating? Drinking too much after a long day? Engaging in behaviors that do not give you the results you desire, but you crave them?.... If you’re craving change, this session is for you! It offers a deep dive into stress-related behaviors, helping you understand the cognitive and behavioral impacts. You’ll gain awareness of how stress affects you and learn tools to break the cycle. For some, these skills will kickstart a journey toward healthier wellness habits. This session is your first step in making the changes you desire. Develop effective coping strategies for managing stress-related behaviors. Gain insight into why you engage in actions that don’t yield the results you desire, yet continue to crave. Awareness is the first step toward meaningful change. 

Cost: $30.00

More to come......Stay Tuned!

Why can Movement be incorporated? Research has found that humans dance for intrinsic reward (Basso, Satyal, & Rugh, 2020; Richard et al., 2013; Robinson et al., 2016). Dance increases neural synchrony which leads to enhanced interpersonal coordination (Basso et al., 2020). Dance offers humans body connectivity. Throughout the lifespan, movement aids interpersonal connections with our senses as well as with coming to understand our world. Allowing others in their space can highlight intimate relationships; sense of touch can also be experienced depending on the proximity. As these experiences continue, the individual can become better at predicting other’s movements which heightens social alignment (Basso et al., 2020). Those who dance in social settings benefit from group cohesion as they have the opportunity to join each other and have their moves validated by other’s replicating, empathetic bonding (Behrends, Müller, & Dziobek, 2012). Regular dancing can increase one’s empathetic ability (Behrends et. al, 2012). The Simulation Theory of Empathy proposes we mentally simulate the actions of others in our own motor cortices, using the Mirror Neuron System, in order to understand those actions and empathize with the other” (Bamford, 2017, p. 3).

Dance/Movement Mental Health Benefits: WebMD (2020) reports numerous mental health benefits that come from dance: (a) improve mood and attitude, ease depression and anxiety, protect memory, improve self-esteem, and support relationships. Dance movement has been used throughout history across various world cultures to promote healing (Ali, Cushey, & Siddiqui, 2017). Ali, Cushey, and Siddiqui (2017) found that women whether they just began their experience with dance or danced for years despite, if they spent a few minutes a week or many hours dancing, eleven benefits were reported: (a) acceptance, (b) achievement, (c) creativity, (d) career, (e) culture, (f) expression, (g) happiness, (h) healing, (i) health, (j), social support, and (k) stress relief. This study highlighted how dance offers individuals the opportunity to “recognize the variety of body shapes and to be comfortable in their own skin and to appreciate diverse shapes in others as well” (p. 38). Dance offered the participants the opportunity to challenge themselves and celebrate successes as well as learn from others. Participants reported that dance offered them an outlet for expression. This outlet can support a feeling of removal of constraints. Dance was noted to offer an opportunity to not only explore their own culture but also provided an incentive to explore others and appreciate diversity. “Participants spoke of the difficulty of expressing complex cognitions and sentiments through words; several of these individuals shared a sense of empowerment from being able to express without using words” (p. 40). Some identified more as a dancer and embodied this as part of their identity. Many described dance as being a method used to reduce their worries and anxieties. A profound finding was that all participants linked their happiness and general well-being to their dancing. These findings alone support the notion that dance can support feelings of wellness. A sense of hope moving in a positive direction of a person’s desires.

Dance does not discriminate in providing wellness for its clients. Dance can provide these benefits to all cultures across a wide range of ages as well as account for numerous cognitive and developmental abilities. Dance interventions for healthy young people (15-24 years of age) across numerous countries reported a promotion of client subjective well-being (Mansfield et al., 2018). Heightened coordinated brain states are associated with an enhanced ability to learn and remember information, heightened affective states, enhanced flow states, and higher levels of prosociality (Buzsáki, 2006). Individuals diagnosed with Parksinson’s have reported dance as a successful form of therapy to support improve functional mobility, increased sense of competency which supports a improved sense of well-being (McGill, Houston, & Lee, 2014). Breast cancer clients undergoing radiotherapy or were postradiotherapy both identified 5 main benefits of incorporating dance therapy into their lives. Dance movement therapy helped them (a) cope with cancer, treatment, and physical symptoms; (b) improve mental well-being, attention, and appreciation for the self and body; (c) improve total functioning; (d) bridge back to a normal and better life; and (e) participate in shared positive experiences (Ho, Lo, Kul, 2016). A significant finding with this population was that the radiotherapy group reported an increased ability to cope with cancer, treatment, and physical symptoms as well as an improved mental well-being, attention, and appreciation for the self and body. Furthermore, clients who suffer from negative impacts of having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reported benefits to their well-being with infusion of dance therapy. Participants with ASD who ranged between four and 55 years in age and had an IQ ranging from under 70 to above average (>85) reported increased social skills  through work with dance therapy (Takahashi, Matsushima, & Kato, 2019). These are just a few examples of the varied clients attaining benefits dance has to offer.

References

• Ali, S., Cushey, K., & Siddiqui, A. (2017). Diversity and dance: Exploring the therapeutic implications of world dance. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 12(1), 31-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401383.2016.1203855

• Bamford, J. (2017). Social bonding happens in time: Interpersonal synchronisation in the silent disco. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13434.54723

• Basso, J. C., Satyal, M. K., & Rugh, R. (2020;2021;). Dance on the brain: Enhancing intra- and inter-brain synchrony. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14, 584312-584312. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.584312

• Behrends, A., Müller, S., & Dziobek, I. (2012). Moving in and out of synchrony: A concept for a new intervention fostering empathy through interactional movement and dance. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 39(2), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2012.02.003

• Davenport, S. (2024, Sept.) How much does therapy Cost: A guide. Medical News Today.https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/letting-your-mind-wander-could-help-you-learn#Daydreaming-is-wakeful-rest

• Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy of Borderline Personality Disorder. The Guilford Press.

• Mansfield, L., Kay, T., Meads, C., Grigsby-Duffy, L., Lane, J., John, A., Daykin, N., Dolan, P., Testoni, S., Julier, G., Payne, A., Tomlinson, A., & Victor, C. (2018). Sport and dance
  interventions for healthy young people (15–24 years) to promote subjective well-being: A systematic review. BMJ Open, 8(7), e020959-e020959. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen- 2017-020959

• McGill, A., Houston, S., & Lee, R. Y. W. (2014). Dance for Parkinson's: A new framework for research on its physical, mental, emotional, and social benefits. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 22(3), 426-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2014.03.005

• Richard, J. M., Castro, D. C., Difeliceantonio, A. G., Robinson, M. J. F., and Berridge, K. C. (2013). Mapping brain circuits of reward and motivation: in the footsteps of ann kelley. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 37, 1919–1931. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.12.008

• Takahashi, H., Matsushima, K., & Kato, T. (2019). The effectiveness of Dance/Movement therapy interventions for autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review. American Journal of Dance Therapy, 41(1), 55-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10465-019-09296-5

• WebMD. (2020). Mental Benefits of Dance. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-benefits-of-dance