Stress Resilience Boot Camp

 

Through this evidence-based series, you will learn (and practice in real time) down-to-earth, repeatable skills that can help you recover more quickly from setbacks, strengthen your everyday relationships, and permanently improve your overall physical and emotional well-being.  

 

Rather than looking for temporary fixes, this curriculum aims for  creating foundational behavioral skills for adaptation

that sustain emotional health and resilience over a lifetime. 

 

 6 INTERACTIVE SESSIONS

(modules described below)

Learning   –   Discussion  –  Practice   –  Review

Tuesdays 6:30 Starting September 8, 2026

​

 The Wellness Center will be open before (5:30) and after for practice

 

Growing Skills – Building Resilience

6  sessions / modules 

(description below)

Instructor:  Hogan Pesaniello, MD*

 

Each session includes 30-40 minutes of practical, evidence-informed coaching as well as opportunities for hands-on experience with biofeedback tools.  Together we will practice with strategies for increased stress resilience.  

Participants can come early or stay after at Willow Street Wellness and Neurofeedback, to practice – and review the coaching for effective practice – with the biofeedback and mindfulness tools which will be introduced and reviewed during the sessions.  

 

*This educational wellness program is intended to teach practical stress management and resilience skills. It is not psychotherapy or medical treatment.

 

THE MODULES

 

1. Understanding Stress  

• How stress affects the brain and, body and everyday life

• Introduce COHERENT BREATHING techniques and handwarming techniques 

• Introduce Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback (HRVbf)

• Introduce Hand-warming Biofeedback (HWbf)

2. Recognizing and Addressing Unhelpful Thought Patterns:

Guest Educator:  John Pesaniello, CBT specialist

• Learn to recognize and change automatic negative thinking habits (ANTs)

(Those ANTs that increase stress and contribute to conflict and fatigue)

• Review of HRV-Coherent Breathing and Hand-warming Techniques, 

• Introduction of pirHEG biofeedback and its relevance to stress resilience

PirHEG is passive infra-red hemoencephalography - based biofeedback, a very safe form of feedback that directly measures the activation of the prefrontal part of the brain, with a simple camera sensor and headband.  

It can help migraine pain and frequency but also can help with emotional reactivity and improve stress regulation.  It is a wellness feedback tool.

Read about pirHEG here:  https://drhoganpesaniello.wixsite.com/home/pirheg-training

3.  Learning Optimism:

• Introduce simple and creative tools to develop realistic optimism, psychological flexibility, wise openness and ready adaptability to stressors.

• Continue to review Coherent Breathing, HRV and Hand-warming Biofeedback and progress with practice with all the tools  

4. Strength, Agility, and Endurance in Managing Emotions and Focus

• Learn practical tools for emotional regulation and attention

• Continued review of progress with practice, integration of the skills with breath and handwarming and mindfulness with the cognitive approaches for learned optimism and ability to interrupt automatic negative thinking 

5.  Dealing with Difficult People

Guest Educator:  John Pesaniello, CBT specialist

• Strategies for responding effectively while maintaining healthy boundaries

• Continued review and trouble-shooting

6.  The Active Dialogue / Putting it all Together

• Learn Active Listening Strategies to strengthen relationships and navigate conflict more effectively

• Discuss the integration of the body-mind practices in an ongoing way as you navigate life and the day to day stressors.

• Envision your plan for continued growth!

 

THE CORE APPROACH:  

Every day brings opportunities to respond to life’s challenges 

with greater awareness, flexibility, and resilience.

We cannot eliminate stress, but we can learn practical skills 

to recover more quickly, strengthen our relationships, and overall well-being.

 

REGISTER TODAY

 

Join us to experience and practice a variety of approaches 

to reduce the drain of excess emotional reactivity, 

and strengthen your self-regulation skills and resilience.

 

•  Breathing and relaxation techniques

• 
Biofeedback demonstrations and optional participation

• 
Mindfulness, body awareness and attention training

• 
Tools for effective communication and de-escalation

• 
Practical strategies for eliminating negative thinking and improving emotional self-regulation

• 
These are practical, everyday skills and tools for improving resilience and well-being

 

Location: Willow Street Wellness & Neurofeedback, Snow Hill, MD

 

New groups (6 weekly sessions, begin periodically, starting September 8th, cost $180

Additional details at Drhoganpesaniello@wixsite.com/home. Contact us with any questions!

For Registration: call (667) 661-2024 or email at dr.hoganpesaniello@pesaniellooffice.com

 

“Small changes practiced consistently can create lasting improvements 

in health, relationships, and well-being.”