Atlanta Mindfulness Institute
Faculty
Kaye
Hames Coker, LCSW is
a psychotherapist who has been practicing meditation for nearly 20 years.
Trained in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction at the Center for Mindfulness
by Jon Kabat-Zinn and the Center staff, she has pioneered Mindfulness
practice in Atlanta. She is one of the original developers of the Interpersonal
Mindfulness Program, now taught at the Center for Mindfulness. Ms. Coker
has been teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for the past decade
and using Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for the last 5 years. She
interweaves the practices of psychotherapy and Mindfulness in her private
practice in Decatur and Snellville, and is currently involved in teaching
Mindfulness practice to combat veterans with PTSD as part of a research
protocol with Emory University's Department of Psychiatry and The Veterans'
Administration. She is a co-founder of the weekly meditation group Insight
Atlanta and the Atlanta Mindfulness Institute.
Ms. Coker believes that by mindfully attending to our mind/body/heart processes, we can begin recognizing and reconfiguring old patterns of relating to ourselves and others. In learning to acknowledge and accept what we find, we can achieve and maintain happiness, wisdom, and ease in our lives. We learn to respond rather than react. As our relationship to stressful events, relationships and situations begins to change, we begin to see the world through new eyes. And this makes all the difference.
Helen
Barnes Vantine, PH.D.
has a private psychotherapy practice in Marietta, Georgia. She began a
meditation practice in 1971 and has spent more than 35 years studying
and training in Eastern approaches to personal growth.
For the past 8 years she has
studied Buddhist Psychology
at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and has practiced Mindfulness
at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Mass. She has participated
in professional training with Jon Kabat-Zinn in Mindfulness Based Stress
Reduction and Zindel Segal in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy. She
is a cofounder of Insight Atlanta, a weekly meditation group, and the
Atlanta Mindfulness Institute.
Dr. Vantine uses her understanding of Buddhist psychology, mindfulness and mindfulness meditation as an integral part of her psychotherapy practice. One of her aspirations for herself and her patients is to go beyond "ordinary unhappiness, " by expanding consciousness, acceptance, insight, compassion, wisdom, and joy through the practice of mindful presence.
Andrew Roach, PH.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services at Georgia State University. Andy completed his graduate training in school psychology at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. Before coming to Georgia State, he worked at the Center for Child Development at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, where he coordinated the Family-Centered Positive Behavior Support program. As a former elementary and middle school teacher, he is particularly
interested in applications of mindfulness with children, adolescents,
parents, and teachers.
"To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders."
Buddha