W. Andrew Achenbaum

Trained as a U.S. historian, W. Andrew Achenbaum has spent most of his career applying the lessons of the past to current policy-relevant issues concerning the physical, social, and spiritual well-being of older Americans.  He is the author of five books (most recently, Older Americans, Vital Communities [Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005]) and co-editor of eleven others.  A past chair of the National Council on the Aging and secretary of the Gerontological Society of America, Achenbaum was founding dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Houston, where he currently teaches in the Graduate College of Social Work and the Honors College.  Achenbaum currently serves as chair of the Gerson David Consortium on Aging, which collaborates with the McGovern Center on Medicine and Ethics, the Rothko Chapel, and the Interfaith Consortium on Aging.

Micki Fine, M.Ed., L.P.C.

Micki Fine is a Certified Mindfulness Teacher and founder of Mindful Living in Houston, Texas.  She was awarded this credential from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center where Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn founded what is now the largest stress reduction clinic in the world. She combines the practice of psychotherapy with teaching Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction to help individuals heal emotionally and physically, transform beliefs to live more fully and peacefully, and deal with stress in creative ways. Her belief in the power of one's inherent strength and capacity for healing strongly influences her work with people experiencing depression, anxiety and chronic pain.

She holds a master's degree in counseling psychology and is licensed as a professional counselor.   She has a long-standing meditation practice.

Micki is participating as a teacher and consultant on two National Institute on Drug Abuse grants that are studying mindfulness meditation and its effects on chemical dependency recovery and smoking cessation. She has also participated in other research studies documented in the Journal of Substance Use and Addictive Disorders and Their Treatment publications

Cha Foxhall, OSB Obl, M.Ed., L.P.C.

Cha is Founding Director of The Living Well Center for Psychotherapy, Spirituality and Health, with offices near the Texas Medical Center.  A psychotherapist, spiritual director and meditation teacher, she leads groups for spiritual renewal for healthcare professionals, clergy and hospital chaplains.  Her clinical areas of interest include mind/body/spirit treatment of anxiety, depression, and health issues, as well as self-care for healthcare professionals.     

Cha holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from the University of Houston, summa cum laude.  She is a graduate of the Mind/Body/Spirit Medicine Professional Training Program of the Center for Mind/Body Medicine with psychiatrist James Gordon, M.D. of the Georgetown University School of Medicine.  She is also a graduate of the Clinical Training in Mind/Body Medicine with Herbert Benson, M.D. at Harvard Medical School.

For over forty years she has been researching complementary medicine with an emphasis on the role of spirituality in health, wellness, stress, meditation and, more recently, neuroscience.  She has also studied extensively and taught integrative healing modalities such as guided imagery, autogenic training, nutrition, exercise and journaling.     

She began meditating twenty-seven years ago and is a graduate of the World Community for Christian Meditation School for Teachers.  Over the past twenty years she has studied at the Pecos Benedictine Monastery, which she joined as an Oblate of the Order of St. Benedict.  She is a graduate of their School for Spiritual Directors.     

In the 1970's she established the first mind/body/spirit center in Houston.  In 1994 she was one of the organizing founders of the Shalom Center for Healing and Wholeness where she organized an integrative program of Christian psychotherapy, psychoeducational offerings and training workshops.     

She is a member of the Society for Christian Psychology, the American Group Psychotherapy Association and the International Order of St. Luke the Physician.  She is a frequent lecturer for the Community of Hope, based at St. Luke's Hospital,  the Formation in Direction Program of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, and many area churches.

Lex Gillan

Lex Gillan has been a practitioner of yoga and meditation for nearly 40 years.  He has studied with world-class teachers - including Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Ram Dass, Stephen Levine, Father Thomas Keating, Andy Gold and James Ezelle, M.D. - since the 1960's.  Mr. Gillan has been a full-time instructor since 1974 when he founded The Yoga Institute in Houston, Texas, one of the oldest yoga studio businesses in the country.  Since its inception, he has taught more than 25,000 yoga classes, 100 ten day retreats and 300 meditation workshops.  Mr. Gillan also teaches the Yoga Teacher Training and National Certification Course, is a founder and Trustee of Rose Mountain Retreat Center outside Las Vegas, New Mexico and is on the Adjunct Faculty at the Institute for Religion and Health in the Texas Medical Center in Houston.  He is degreed in Business Administration from Stephen F. Austin University (Texas) and spent five years as a commercial banker in Houston in the 60's.

Bing You, M.D. (China), L.Ac., D.A.A.P.M.

Dr. Bing You received both his M.D. (China) and his Master of Medicine Science of Acupuncture and Moxibustion degree from Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Sichuan, China.  He also received advanced training in Tui-na (Chinese Body work) at Shanghai University of TCM, and had the distinct honor, as a sixth generation Tai- Chi disciple, to received Master-to-Disciple Tai-Chi training  from Masters Jinhui Song, Ziyi Li, and Mogen Lin.  In 1995, .Dr You became a teacher himself as he began instructing Chinese medical students and international students in Acupuncture, Tui-na, Qi-Gong and Tai-chi Sword at Chengdu University of TCM. In 1996, in, honor of his many achievements, he was recognized as the Provincial Outstanding Young Physician in Sichuan Province.

In addition to being a teacher, Dr. You is the published author of several books on Tui-na and Chinese herbology and an active lecturer in the Houston area such as Rice University, the University of Houston, and the Memorial Herman South Wellness Center. He is also a researcher currently involved in a National Institute of Health grant-funded project researching the benefits of acupuncture on osteoarthritis of the knee.  Dr. You is a licensed acupuncturist in the State of Texas and maintains an active clinical practice specializing in sports injury and pain management with a secondary specialty in internal medicine disorders.  He is a recognized Diplomate of Pain Management by the American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM).