G.R.E.A.T.
(Get Real Exercise and Therapy) PROGRAM
While there is an abundance of information on diet and exercise, what's missing in many instances is a philosophy that addresses the "whole" person. The GREAT Program is holistic in that it integrates the four areas of health and well-being (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) into balance.
Fitness from the inside out...
We believe that you can learn to become mindful, even embrace the very lifestyle habits and practices important for attaining physical and emotional health and well-being. If previous attempts to diet and exercise have been fleeting or have failed, this comprehensive approach is possibly your best chance to finally become fit, healthy and well.
A 12 week experiential program designed to address the physical and emotional components necessary in achieving a fit and healthy lifestyle. Education and instruction in nutrition and exercise comprise the physical component while group therapy encourages participants to explore their personal history of emotional issues and obstacles that have prevented achieving physical and emotional health and well-being.
The G.R.E A.T. Program includes 2 group fitness instructional workout sessions and 1 group talk-therapy session per week for 12 weeks.
Fitness workout sessions include education and instruction regarding components of fitness, individual program design and technique in executing specific fitness activities.
Talk-therapy sessions are intended to help participants explore their personal histories and future intentions regarding living a healthy and fit lifestyle.
All sessions will be led by one or both of the program’s facilitators and, as is customary in any similar gathering, group norms of mutual respect, taking turns and confidentiality are enforced.
Deirdre Elliott, MSW, LCSW, CPT
Helping people transform their relationship with the body: to get comfortable in their own skin, with their own humanness, and learn to love the bodies they are in ...this is my passion. The best part about my job is watching people realize that they can actually ENJOY the journey!
I enjoyed sports as a child, and soccer was my first love. When I was twelve, an accident left my ankle shattered and my leg broken in two places. It took more than six months to heal from those initial injuries, only to be told by doctors that I should not run anymore. This had a huge impact on my self-esteem in high school. Once in college, I decided to try playing soccer again. As predicted, three games into the season, I re-injured my ankle and this time, surgeons told me that they wanted to fuse the bone. I walked out of that office and never returned, but I also shied away from anything athletic for several years.
After the birth of my son, a friend challenged me to join her for the Komen Race for the Cure. Both of our mothers are breast cancer survivors and we thought this would be a great way to honor their courage. Determined to make things different this time, when the inevitable injury occurred, I sought the help of a physical therapist, acupuncturist and sports massage therapist. I also was fortunate enough to have a coach who understood how important this was to me both physically and emotionally. This time I did not accept 'no' for an answer and although I still have challenges, I now know that I am confident that I can overcome them. The greatest lesson from that time in my life: challenge your limitations and why you have them!
That first race sparked many more, and the challenges progressed as well. 5Ks turned into 10ks, then triathlons. For me, triathlons are a multidimensional journey, both difficult and rewarding, allowing me to be introspective and push harder, but also to respect who I am and where I am. I am always looking for a new challenge and triathlons never let me down. In 2009, I decided I wanted to share this love with my clients, and I became a certified personal trainer.
I am interested, first and foremost, in transformation: why some people are able to make lasting changes in their lives and what factors led to these changes. I have always been fascinated by the human mind and its role in healing, and mind-body-spirit holism. I received a BA in Psychology from UT 1997, and MSSW in 1999. I spent two years doing traditional talk therapy, while simultaneously continuing to pursue a personal interest in movement: studying dance and receiving various forms of healing bodywork. In 2001, frustrated with the observation that most of my clients possessed a great deal of insight but still remained stuck in habitual patterns that were dissatisfying, I left my position to pursue a license in massage, so that I could better understand the body's role in healing. My sense has always been that insight is not enough and that action is needed: that body, mind and spirit ultimately cannot be separated.
I received a massage license in 2002, and began searching for a way to integrate psychotherapy and bodywork. Hakomi was the answer. Hakomi is a somatic practice that emphasizes mindfulness: slowing down and bringing awareness inside our bodies to what is beneath our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and habitual patterns. Learning to stay present with what is and to tolerate our humanness. Learning to watch compassionately all of our patterns and habits that are no longer serving us and hold us back from transformation. Learning to apply this process of mindful experimentation to physical conditioning has been a personal journey that I look forward to sharing with my clients.
Shelli Kozberg, MA, LPC, CPFS
I think I have the best jobs in the world as a personal fitness trainer and psychotherapist because I make my living helping people help themselves.
My career in fitness began over 30 years ago after a personal success story. Beginning in college and continuing for several years after, my poor diet and inactivity lead to significant weight gain. Many efforts to lose weight by crash dieting led to a common pattern known as the yo-yo diet syndrome. (Yo-yo dieting describes recurring weight fluctuations caused by extreme dietary modifications that by definition, cannot be sustained permanently. Typically, when the dieter can no longer remain compliant with the said diet, the pounds creep back on, often exceeding the original number lost. Frustration and desperation often lead the dieter to try many kinds of restricted and unbalanced diets throughout the pattern. Research shows sustained weight management is rarely achieved through yo-yo dieting).
I eventually discovered the best kept secret and often denied truth that to achieve a fit and healthy body for life was to commit to a series of simple but important behavior changes. I altered my food choices (diet) from mostly processed and junk foods to low-fat dairy and animal proteins, a variety of fruits and vegetables and whole grains. And, after being sedentary most of my life, I started an exercise program which ultimately helped me look and feel leaner, stronger, healthier and more fit.
Happily healthy and fit and loving the sense of enhanced well-being, I wanted to share the wealth of knowledge I'd gained. I soon found my calling as a group fitness instructor and reveled in the opportunity to share my experience and enthusiasm with my students. Since that time, I have spent most of my career in fitness teaching all facets of living a fit, healthy lifestyle and training large and small groups and individuals of all ages and fitness levels.
After almost 20 years in fitness, my sense of satisfaction from helping clients become stronger and healthier led me to a new interest in the psychology of health and well-being, a masters degree in counseling and ultimately, a license as a professional counselor. For the last l0 years, I have enjoyed juggling dual careers as a personal fitness trainer and psychotherapist in private practice.
I conceptualized the G.R.E.A.T. program as an holistic approach to learning how to live a life of health and wellness by combining a healthy approach toward eating with a systematic and progressive exercise program along with an individual and group therapeutic component to address emotional issues related to self-care.
located in Remedy Center for Healing Arts4910 Burnet RoadAustin, Texas 78756Shelli Kozberg 512-345-2311Deirdre Elliott 512-699-6612info_greatprogram-austin.com
located in Remedy Center for Healing Arts
4910 Burnet Road
Austin, Texas
78756
Shelli Kozberg 512-345-2311
Deirdre Elliott 512-699-6612
info_greatprogram-austin.com
