The Heart & Mind Program takes an educational and biopsychosocial approach to wellness. To best cope with and make changes to decrease your risk factors for heart disease, you must be educated and understand how to change the lifestyle issues that need attention.

'Biopsychosocial' refers to taking into consideration what treatment you need for your heart condition (bio), how you respond to your condition emotionally (psycho) and how your condition is affected by the way you live your life (social).

Preventative Treatment

Risk factors that are known to significantly increase the development of heart disease include:

• Overweight/Obesity
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Alcohol abuse
• Physical inactivity
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Chronic stress
• Type A personality
• Diabetes
• Lack of social support
• Age
• Family history
• Gender

The more risk factors a person has, the greater their chance of developing heart disease. Family history of heart disease and age cannot be changed and heart disease affects both men and women; it is the number one cause of death for both genders. All of the other risk factors can be successfully treated with specialized psychological intervention.

The services of The Heart & Mind Program are designed to help you make change that improves both physical and emotional aspects of heart disease. We will help you develop healthy coping skills that make a difference for the long-term. 

Many people have tried to lose weight, exercise more, eat better, reduce stress, stop smoking and overcome anxiety and depression, but are often unsuccessful in their efforts. Psychological treatment identifies and addresses the thoughts, feelings and behaviors that unknowingly undermine attempts to make change. Until these thoughts, feelings and behaviors are determined and alternate coping skills developed, attempts to lose weight, stop smoking, feel better, reduce stress, be more active, etc., are not likely to last.

By providing primary preventative treatment, our goal is to help you reduce or eliminate your risk factors before you are faced with a diagnosis of heart disease or with a cardiac event.

Pre-Surgical Preparation

When cardiac patients do not require emergency procedures and are able to schedule them in advance, we offer treatment that helps prepare for the procedure. Feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, panic, helplessness and uncertainty are common in patients undergoing medical procedures, especially when they are cardiac procedures.

Guided imagery and relaxation training are powerful psychological strategies that enhance a patient’s ability to cope with medical/surgical procedures before, during and after the procedure takes place. Several hundred research studies conducted over the past 30 years have shown that guided imagery and relaxation training improve the mind-body connection. 

A strong mind-body connection can:

• Reduce stress and anxiety before and after medical/surgical procedures
• Shorten recovery time and hospital stays
• Decrease side effects of the procedure, pain and the need for pain medications
• Enhance the ability of the body to heal
• Improve sense of self-control

You will learn how to mentally and emotionally prepare for your procedure using guided imagery and relaxation training, strategies for positive self-talk, emotion monitoring and by identifying what you need from your support system before and after your procedure.

Post-Surgical Services

Often times people are not aware of how their risk factors for heart disease are actually affecting their heart’s ability to function. The seriousness of a person’s heart disease may not be recognized until they have a major cardiac event and/or require emergency surgery.

Patients with heart disease who have already had procedures or surgery will also benefit from The Heart & Mind Program. Risk factors can still be treated effectively. Guided imagery and relaxation training can significantly help patients overcome problems associated with major illnesses and medical/surgical procedures, such as fear, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, pain, stress, anger and helplessness.

By treating risk factors and improving the ability to recover from surgery, the main goal of treatment is to improve quality of life and reduce the chance of another cardiac event.

Additional Services

The Heart & Mind Program also provides treatment to:

• The patient’s family who also experiences significant stress and emotional strain
• Improve compliance with treatment recommendations
• Address problems with impatience, competitiveness, multi-tasking and urgency
• Reduce resistance to change and denial of symptoms/disease