Querencia

que·ren·cia\kāˈrensyə\ (n.)

1. a safe haven, homing instinct, sanctuary

2. A place where one feels safe, and from which one’s strength of character is drawn

3. A science-forward, research-based mindfulness program designed to train your attention, increase your awareness, and generate value-driven change to help you live your best life. 

It’s common for many people starting out on a new journey towards better health to struggle with how to create sustainable change when there’s always this pervasive fear of backsliding into their old ways should they have the inevitable “bad day”.

And let’s face it…bad days will happen. We’ve all experienced hardship, pain, fear, anxiety, overwhelm, grief, and uncertainty. Our modern lifestyles and tech gadgets have allowed us to take on far more than we normally could or should, which keeps us busy managing our hectic day-to-day life with decisions based on convenience instead of common sense. Over time, these day-to-day decisions become habits…our habits become lifestyle…and now we’re on the path to dis-ease and dysfunction - because the human animal wasn’t designed for a life of chronic stress and suffering.

Change is hard because it usually involves going through growing pains — which can be scary. This is because our minds like to make sense of the things we’ve already experienced, and thus, gives preferential treatment to decision-making based on survival and safety…which can elicit a fear response if you decide to overrule the mind and try something new. But growing pains are inevitable because change is inevitable, as nothing in nature is static or unchanging. Nature is always evolving and getting better because all change is progressive.

WHEN YOU UNDERSTAND THIS, SUFFERING BECOMES A CHOICE.

Keep in mind, though, that struggle and stress and suffering are problematic only when we lose touch with our inherent capacity to tolerate them. The solution is to be able to drop down into present-moment awareness and remind yourself that you come equipped for the challenge of change.

So to that degree, I’ve sought out the help of Dr. Regina Vanburg - a clinical psychologist who specializes in mindfulness-based interventions as well as the treatment of post-traumatic stress and other trauma-related disorders. She has designed a mindfulness-training program that helps you create your own inner safe-haven from which you can draw strength and allow you to consciously act with intention and loving-kindness for your own best interests.

It's centered around the psychology of change and is designed to help you love, live, work, play, communicate, connect, and exist with full body-mind awareness and intention.

It’s called “Querencia”

Using state-of-the-art field research from modern psychology, advanced neuroscience, and age-old contemplative traditions, Querencia capitalizes on what you already have in order to help get you where you want to be — and stay there - by teaching you the skills you need to find solutions for the inevitable growing pains that change brings.

Led by Dr. Vanburg, the program consists of six 50-minute, one-on-one Zoom video sessions, in which you will:

• Identify blocking factors and their solutions to help you make meaningful change.
• Learn how to set intentions that help you attain concrete personal goals.
• Ask questions regarding the how, what, when, and why of mindfulness.
• Create, practice, and refine your own personal mindfulness program.
• Track change from week to week, continually adjusting as needed to generate a set of mindfulness exercises that work for you, take advantage of your strengths, integrate within your schedule, and move you toward your goals.

About Regina Vanburg, Psy D

Dr. Regina Vanburg is a clinical psychologist specializing in mindfulness and the treatment of post-traumatic stress and trauma-related disorders. Currently, she serves as the Dual Diagnosis Specialist on the PTSD Clinical Team in the South Texas Veteran’s Health Care System. Dr. Vanburg received her Psy D from Our Lady of the Lake University and completed residency and fellowship in trauma psychology at the San Antonio VA. She’s a practitioner and clinical researcher of mindfulness-based interventions and has authored protocols and presentations on the integration of mindfulness-based interventions in trauma treatment.