Whole Life: A Holistic Approach to Mental Health and Well-Being in Play Therapy

Light breakfast and beverages will be served! 

Description: Whole Life Psychiatry was created to provide a new and unique approach to mental health and well-being for adults and children. Holistic psychiatry is a form of healing that considers the whole person - body, mind, emotions, and spirit. Holistic psychiatry uses conventional, nutritional, and functional medicine, as well as mind-body/energy medicine to restore health as naturally and efficiently as possible. Holistic psychiatry can be a supplement to children who are in play therapy and are in need of psychiatric services.  

Learning objectives:

1. Participants will gain an understanding of how holistic psychiatry differs from traditional psychiatry and how this understanding can help supplement a child in play therapy’s healing.
2. Participants will learn how physiology and nutrition affect adult and children’s mental health.
3. Participants will learn how the mind-body connection and energy medicine affect the mental health and overall well-being of adults and children.
4. Participants will learn how subconscious beliefs are created and how they affect our experiences as well as how to change limiting or self-sabotaging beliefs.

Presented by:

Dr. Kim Tubbs, DNP, MSN, PMHNP-BC

Kim Tubbs is a Board Certified Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner trained through Vanderbilt University. She specializes in treating children, adolescents, and adults with a variety of issues, including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, mood disorders, behavioral issues, trauma histories, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD without the use of stimulants.

With over 25 years of experience in the field of psychiatry, Kim came to realize that medication wasn't resolving the underlying issues. While medications can be helpful for a period of time, she has repeatedly found that patients frequently relapse, requiring higher doses of medication, additional medications, and experience increasing side effects from medications.

This started her journey and research into holistic psychiatry. Over the last 6 years she has been dedicated to the study of nutrition, genetics, mindfulness, yoga, and ayurveda, as well as new research in the field of traditional psychiatry and pharmacology. Using a holistic and integrative approach, many of her patients are able to drastically reduce medication or get off of medication altogether.

Kim now combines her knowledge of integrative and traditional medicine. She works synergistically with her patients to uncover any biological or thought issues that may be at the root of the problems and together they develop the most holistic plan for achieving wellness for the patient's Whole Life.

In addition, Kim is the author of a series of children’s books aimed at teaching emotional intelligence. The Lavy Books  aim to help children learn the important skills of emotion regulation.

Shanon Buffington, MS, ERYT, RYS

Shanon graduated from the University of Missouri-Rolla with a Bachelor and Master of Science in Engineering Management. She spent 6 years working in the software consulting industry. She left corporate America in 2002 and now uses her problem-solving skills to help people on a much deeper level.

Shanon's training includes certifications from the Yoga Institute and ParaYoga®.  Her training is in classical Tantra, Hatha, and Raja Yoga.

She is a member of the Yoga Alliance, with over 1000 hours of yoga training and is the director of a registered yoga school that trains teachers at the 200 and 500 hour levels.

She is also a certified Yoga and Ayurveda Wellness Consultant through the American Institute of Vedic Studies and Dr. David Frawley and a trained facilitator of PSYCH-K®.  She has studied with her teacher, Yogarupa Rod Stryker, considered to be one of the preeminent yoga and meditation teachers in the United States, since 2005.