The hidden disorder that no one talks about and the health consequences it brings.

Let's face it: how many times, at the beginning of the year, we promise ourselves to clean out the clutter in our closet/garage/storage room/office? What about the stress that comes with just thinking about it? Feeling the neck pain from turning away from your new year's resolution? How can we beat this unnecessary stress?

WHERE DO I BEGIN? Am I on a path to hoarding?

A new year is about new beginnings; the opportunity to take care of the issues that might be bothering you, stressing you and flat out making you unhappy.  The Howell's Health and Happiness Series will be celebrating its first symposium on January 21, 2017.  Its line of renown speakers promise to deliver a clear understanding of clutter and hoarding, as well as the tools to take control of your habits before they take control of you, and your health:

• Are women more prone to OCD than men? 
• Are women more at risk to become hoarders than men? 
• What effect does clutter have on your health? 
• Are you aware of the differences between men and women when dealing with stress? (C'mon!  You HAVE heard Dr. Banka talk about it!) 
• What effect does exercise have not only in our stress levels, but in our overall health?
• How can meditation be used as a tool to relieve stress?   

Our Health and Happiness Symposium is meant to provide you with the understanding behind why we feel we need to save everything and anything that crosses our paths, how to manage the stress that comes with it, how to let go, and how to manage our stress in other difficult times throughout our lives.  It will provide new strategies and tools to uncover your health in one area that is rarely talked about -- clutter and hoarding; including effective coping skills like meditation and exercise.   So save the date, bring a friend, get a massage, and share the happiness!

When:           January 21st, 2017
Where:          The McMillin Center at Liberty Station (Bldg. 177)
                      2875 Dewey Rd.,
                      San Diego, CA  92106
Time:             8:30 - 11:30 

Program:
8:30-9:00        Registration and light breakfast
9:00-9:45        Dr. Sanjaya Saxena: Do you have a clutter problem or are you a hoarder?
9:55 -10:10     Laura Sepulveda: Using Pilates to Reduce Stress
10:10-10:25    Break and massage therapy to reduce stress
10:25-10:40    Dr. Jill Bormann: Using mantram meditation to reduce stress
10:40-11:15    Dr. Carole Banka – Health and happiness consequences of stress and its management

Cost:           $25.00. Online registration IS REQUIRED.

Meet our speakers:

Key Note Speaker:

Sanjaya Saxena, MD

Professor and Director of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Program

UCSD School of Medicine 

"Do you have a clutter problem or are you a hoarder?"

Dr. Saxena received his Bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and his medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha) from University of Minnesota Medical School. He did his psychiatry residency at UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, then completed a research fellowship in neuroimaging in neuropsychiatric disorders, receiving a Charles A. Dana Foundation Scholarship. He was on the faculty of the UCLA Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences for nine years before coming to UCSD and the VA San Diego Healthcare System in November, 2005. In 2006, he became the Director of the UCSD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders (OCD) Program. He also created San Diego VA Anxiety Disorders Clinic and directed it for four years. From 2010-2015, he served as Director of UCSD Outpatient Psychiatric Services. Dr. Saxena has been elected into Best Doctors in America every year since 2005, and into Castle Connelly’s and US News & World Report’s America’s Top Doctors every year since 2008. Dr. Saxena is also heavily involved in teaching psychiatric residents and medical students at UCSD.

His research focuses on the neurobiology and treatment of OCD, Hoarding Disorder (HD), and related disorders. He has received awards and grants from the American Psychiatric Association, American Neuropsychiatric Association, International OCD Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Saxena serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International OCD Foundation and was an advisor to the DSM-5 Workgroup on Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. He and his colleagues developed the diagnostic criteria for Hoarding Disorder, which is now listed as a separate diagnosis in DSM-5. His research has garnered attention from local, national, and international media.

Jill E. Bormann, PhD, RN, FAAN is a Research Scientist and Clinical Nurse Specialist in Adult Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. She is also on faculty at the University of San Diego and San Diego State University schools of nursing. Her interest in spirituality and health has led her on a journey to study the health-related benefits of the ancient spiritual practice of repeating a mantram. She will present tips on how to integrate a mantram into your life for health and wellbeing.

Dr. Bormann’s research has focused on Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adults living with HIV/AIDS, family caregivers of Veterans with dementia, healthcare employees, first-time mothers and homeless women.  There is growing evidence that the Mantram Repetition Program is an effective approach to symptom management that is invisible, inexpensive, non-pharmacological, and complementary to mainstream medicine.

Laura Sepulveda, owner and trainer at Gotham Pilates in La Jolla, is a graduate of NYU with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Dance Therapy/Dance Education. She began her career as a fitness trainer in New York City. She has been a guest trainer at Rancho La Puerta. She is certified to teach general fitness, dance (tap is her favorite) and yoga, but her current focus is Pilates. To quote Laura, "Dance is the language of my life. It has been my therapy, my escape, my savior..." Her reverence for movement in all forms is contagious.

Carole Banka, Ph.D is currently Associate Project Scientist in the Department of Medicine at the UCSD School of Medicine.  She received her Ph.D. from UCSF School of Medicine and did postdoctoral training at UCSD School of Medicine and The Scripps Research Institute. She has held faculty positions at The Scripps Research Institute and the La Jolla Institute for Molecular Medicine where she was Director of Women’s Health Research. Her areas of research include heart disease, fat and cholesterol metabolism, menopause, breast cancer and reproductive biology.  She was a co-author on the American Heart Association’s seminal “Evidence-based guidelines for cardiovascular disease prevention in women: 2007 update”, one of her 40 publications.  Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Defense (DOD breast cancer program), the California Breast Cancer Program, the California Tobacco Program and the American Heart Association.

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About the Doris A. Howell Foundation: 
The Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research is committed to keeping the women we love healthy, advancing women’s health through research and educating women to be catalysts for improving family health in the community.

The organization does so by funding scholarships to students researching issues affecting women’s health; providing a forum for medical experts, scientists, doctors, and researchers to convey timely information on topics relevant to women’s health and the health of their families through its Lecture and Evening Series, and by funding research initiatives that improve the health of under-served women and increase awareness and advocacy in the community. 

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