Alumni Events

Sierra Tucson cares about our alumni's ongoing recovery, and we want to support and encourage you! Alumni events are listed here and are updated regularly. We invite you to join us! Please use the convenient "Register Now" button, when it is available, for quick, secure online registration.

Alumni Support Groups are also available as a place to give and receive ongoing local support.

Alumni Events:

S.T.A.R. 26
October 24 - 27, 2013
Sierra Tucson Alumni Retreat
at the
Westward Look Resort


Retreat Schedule
Thursday, October 24, 2013
  10:00 a.m. -   5:30 p.m.    Sign-in/Select Workshops
  1:00 p.m. -   5:00 p.m.     Prayer Bead Bracelet Workshops w/Marybeth Johnson
  3:00 p.m. -   4:00 p.m.    Yoga
  5:30 p.m. -   6:30 p.m.    Welcome Reception
  6:30 p.m. -   8:30 p.m.    Getting Connected & Retreat Kickoff

Friday, October 25, 2013
  6:00 a.m. -   8:00 a.m.     Hiking in the Catalinas
  7:00 a.m. -   7:30 a.m.     Morning Meditation
  7:45 a.m. -   9:00 a.m.     Continental Breakfast
  8:30 a.m. -   5:30 p.m.     Sign-in/Select Workshops
  9:30 a.m. -   11:30 a.m.   Morning Workshop, Healthy Sexuality w/Dr. Mic Hunter
  11:30 a.m. -   1:00 p.m.    Lunch
  1:00 p.m. -   3:00 p.m.    Afternoon Workshop (optional), Healthy Sexuality Too w/Dr. Mic Hunter
  1:00 p.m. -   5:00 p.m.     Prayer Bead Bracelet Workshops w/Marybeth Johnson
  3:30 p.m. -   4:30 p.m.     Yoga
  5:30 p.m. -   8:30 p.m.     Dinner and Keynote Speaker Charles Raison, MD
  8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.      Alumni-led 12-Step Meeting

Saturday, October 26, 2013
  6:45 a.m. -   8:00 a.m.    Nature Hike at Westward Look
  7:00 a.m. -   7:30 a.m.    Morning Meditation
  7:45 a.m. -   9:00 a.m.    Continental Breakfast
  9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.    Morning Workshops
11:30 a.m. -   1:00 p.m.    Lunch
  1:00 p.m. -   3:00 p.m.    Afternoon Workshops
  3:00 p.m. -   5:30 p.m.    Free Time
  5:30 p.m. -   8:30 p.m.    Dinner and Musician Carrie Newcomer
  8:45 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.     Alumni-led 12 Step Meeting

Sunday, October 27, 2013
  7:30 a.m.                       Bus to Sierra Tucson
  8:00 a.m. -   9:00 a.m.    Brunch at Sierra Tucson
  9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.    Alumni Panel and Closing
11:30 a.m.                       Buses leave for Tucson Airport and Westward Look Resort.

Hotel Accommodations
You may make your room reservations at Westward Look Resort.
Be sure to let the resort know that you are with the Sierra Tucson Annual Retreat to get the special discounted rate. (Reservations must be made over the phone and not on the resort's website, to receive the discounted rate.) Westward Look will sell out, so it is a good idea to reserve your room as soon as possible! When making reservations, also ask about the cancellation policy so as not to be charged a night's stay if you need to cancel.

All Retreat activities, with the exception of Sunday's activities, will be held at the Westward Look Resort, which has extended discounted rates of $144.00 per night plus tax for single or double occupancy or $154.00 per night plus tax for triple or quad occupancy from Sunday, October 20, 2013, to Wednesday, October 30, 2013. These rates are good until October 1, 2013, or until the room block is full, whichever comes first. A 10% discount is available on spa services. It is highly recommended that you book your spa services as soon as possible to ensure availability. Be sure to mention that you are with the Sierra Tucson Annual Retreat to get the discounted rate. Please note that there will NOT be shuttle/bus service between other hotels and Westward Look; you will need to provide your own transportation.

Westward Look Resort
245 E. Ina Road
Tucson, AZ 85704
520-297-1151
800-722-2500
www.WestwardLook.com

Travel Arrangements For transportation from the Tucson International Airport to the resort, please contact Arizona Stagecoach at 520-889-1000 or www.AZstagecoach.com.

Registration
The Retreat cost is $250 per adult or youth. This includes workshops, presentations, entertainment, meals from Thursday reception through Sunday brunch, transportation Sunday to and from Sierra Tucson, and gift bags to take home. Online registration will begin July 15, 2013. No refunds will be given after October 21, 2013. If you have questions, please contact Tim McLeod at 866-638-1650 or AlumniCoordinator@SierraTucson.com.

Workshop Information:

Details about more workshops will be posted soon.

Prayer Bead Bracelet Workshop by Marybeth Johnson
Marybeth is the artist and creator of www.mialena.com, one of a kind jewelry with meaning. She will joyfully assist you in designing and assembling your own prayer bead bracelet. Choose from a selection of beautiful beads, gathered from around the world, that will remind you of your lifetime journey or your personal intention. Each bracelet will be finished with a sterling button from Thailand.

Four workshops are offered, two on Thursday, October 24th: 1:00-3:00 p.m. & 3:00-5:00 p.m. and two on Friday, October 25th: 1:00-3:00 p.m. & 3:00-5:00 p.m. Fee of $125.00 per person.

For this special and unique workshop, you will need sign up ahead of time by contacting Marybeth at
970-846-3598 or marybeth@mialena.com. Each workshop is limited to 10 participants. Registration will be accepted until October 18, 2013, or until classes are filled; no refunds will be given after this date.

Friday Workshop Presenter:

Dr. Mic Hunter
"Healthy Sexuality"

Dr. Hunter will describe four types of family systems that have extreme views of sex, their six common characteristics, and how these attitudes and behaviors affect people as children and as adults. He will suggest practical methods for developing a less extreme and more rewarding view of sexuality, gender role expectations, and self-image, including how the Twelve Step program can be utilized for healing. Individuals and couples are welcome to attend.

Dr. Mic Hunter
"Healthy Sexuality Too"

Dr. Hunter will focus on how to overcome common barriers to openly discussing sexuality, including body image, gender role expectations, and shame. He will include how one’s spiritual beliefs can both positively and negatively affect one’s sexuality. Methods for overcoming the impact of sexual abuse (in childhood or as an adult) will be included. This is open to both those who have attended the earlier Healthy Sexuality workshop and those who have not. Material from the first workshop will NOT be repeated.

Dr. Mic Hunter has held Minnesota licenses as a Psychologist, Marriage and Family Therapist, and as an Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He has been sought out by the print and broadcast media for interviews over 150 times including Oprah, CNN, Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He has spoken to mental health professionals and the general public over 300 times in America, Mexico, Mongolia, and England. He has presented at the meetings of the American Association Of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, and the American Psychological Association. He has been invited to give nine keynote addresses. He has served as a reviewer for The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, The Journal of Men's Studies, The Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and Violence Against Women. He is a recipient of the Fay Honey Knopp Memorial Award, given by the National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization "For recognition of his contributions to the field of male sexual victimization treatment and knowledge." In 2007 the Board of Directors of Male Survivor announced the creation of The Mic Hunter Award For Research Advances. Dr. Hunter, for whom the ongoing award was named, became the first recipient. It was given to him for his “ceaseless pursuit of knowledge about male sexual abuse in all its occurrences, of the eloquent dissemination of new knowledge in this area, and of the stimulation for further study and concern about revealing, treating and preventing male sexual abuse.” In addition to articles, Mic is the author, co-author, or editor of numerous books including:
   Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse,
   The Sexually Abused Male Volumes I & II,
   Child Victims & Perpetrators Of Sexual Abuse,
   Adult Survivors Of Sexual Abuse: Treatment Innovations,
   Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse In America’s Military,
   The Ethical Use of Touch in Psychotherapy,
   Back To The Source: The Spiritual Principles Of Jesus,
   Conscious Contact: The 12 Steps As Prayer,
   The American Barbershop: A Closer Look At A Disappearing Place (Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award), and
   Joyous Sexuality: Healing From The Effects Of Family Sexual Dysfunction.

Friday Evening Keynote Speaker:

Charles Raison, M.D.
"Coming to our Senses: Harnessing the Mind-Body Connection to Improve the Treatment of Depression"

Despite ongoing scientific advances in our understanding of brain-body processes central to mental illness, the treatment of depression remains little changed over the last 20 years. While often effective, current treatment strategies leave many patients with residual symptoms that predict both chronic disease and treatment resistance. Approximately 20% of patients with depression are resistant to all currently available therapeutic modalities. This lecture tackles the limitations in our current treatments by asking whether better understandings of what causes depression, based on evolutionary science, might provide untapped resources for the treatment of this crippling condition. A key idea that will emerge from this lecture is that evolutionary processes have “wired” the brain and body together in ways that make it possible to treat depression by affecting the body, rather than the brain directly. Doing this may, in fact, make it possible to target brain areas involved in depression far more specifically than we are able to do with medications, and may avoid many of the side effects associated with current psychiatric medicine. To demonstrate these ideas, the speaker will provide examples from his own research into treating depression by impacting the body’s immune system and by using hyperthermia to specifically alter brain function in ways that relieve depressive symptoms. The talk will conclude with a discussion of how these scientific findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of many alternative treatments that have been in use for millennia.

Charles Raison, M.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine
Barry and Janet Lang Professor of Integrative Mental Health
John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Charles Raison, MD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Barry and Janet Lang Associate Professor of Integrative Mental Health at the John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Arizona. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor and Clinical Director of the Mind-Body Program at Emory University. Dr. Raison received his medical degree from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, where he was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha and won the Missouri State Medical Association Award. He completed residency training at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital in Los Angeles. The recipient of several teaching awards, Dr. Raison has received research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His research focuses on bi-directional relationships between neuroendocrine and immune systems, especially as these pertain to depression in response to stress or medical illness. His research ranges from immune system effects on central nervous system functioning to the application of compassion meditation as a strategy to reduce inflammatory responses to psychosocial stress. Dr. Raison has also done pioneering studies on the use of cytokine antagonists for the treatment of major depression. In addition to his activities at University of Arizona, Dr. Raison is the mental health expert for CNN.com and serves on the editorial board of Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Saturday Evening Entertainment:

Carrie Newcomer
Carrie Newcomer's music has always explored the intersection of the spiritual and the daily, the sacred and the ordinary. Over the course of her career she has become a prominent voice for progressive spirituality, social justice and interfaith dialogue. Her ability for sharp observation of the world lead the Dallas Morning News to rave, "She's the kind of artist whose music makes you stop, think and then say, 'that is so true.'" She has been described as "a soaring songstress" by Billboard, a "prairie mystic" by the Boston Globe and Rolling Stone has declared that Newcomer "asks all the right questions." Author Barbara Kingsolver wrote, "She's a poet, storyteller, snake-charmer, good neighbor, friend and lover, minister of the wide-eyed gospel of hope and grace." Visit Carrie's website to learn more: www.CarrieNewcomer.com

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Alumni Events: