Neuropsychologist Bridges the Gap from Science to Spirituality During CSE Summer Institute Retreat

Posted on July 30, 2012

According to Dr. Charlotte Tomaino, it really is mind over matter. The nationally recognized neuropsychologist offered the attendees at one of two sessions of her retreat on July 18, 2012, scientific evidence combined with first-hand experience to show how belief can change the very structure of the brain. Her retreat, entitled Awakening the Brain: The Neuropsychology of Grace, was part of the College of Saint Elizabeth Center for Ministry and Spirituality’s Annual Summer Institute, held in the Annunciation Center at CSE. 

With more than 30 years of clinical experience as a neuropsychologist, Dr. Tomaino has helped hundreds of patients recover from brain injuries. She presented her findings that thought processes have a profound effect on brain function. Stating, “The brain changes by choice, not by chance,” Dr. Tomaino emphasizes the connections of mind, body, and spirit. “Your spirit, your consciousness has the power to overcome,” she says.

Dr. Tomaino offered the following tips and tools:

How-to Tips:

• The brain acts before your mind decides.
• Be conscious about which habits you develop.
• Stay in Optimal Arousal, which is the chemistry of your best self.
• Know where your glass ceiling is – and the other person’s.
• Don’t let your brain be captured by fear.
• Watch for signs of hyper arousal, which is the brain on adrenaline.
• You can retrieve your mind once you have lost it.
• Management is from the inside out.

How-to Tools:

• Live and make decisions in Optimal Arousal. Don’t get too tired, too hungry, too thirsty, or too cranky.
• Use humor to stay away from the glass ceiling.
• Breathe, breathe, breathe with intention.
• Focus on where you want to go, not where you are.
• Manage the adrenaline to produce the outcome.
• Change the subject when the heat goes up and come back from a cooler place.
• Shift your state to shift your outcome.

Her message made an impact on members of her audience. Says attendee Pat Gerne, a mother of 10 and grandmother to 34, “I invite those I love in my life to process and to share the wisdom of spirituality and wellness.”