Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools

p>Catherine P. Cook-Cottone, PhD, is a certified school psychologist, licensed psychologist, registered yoga teacher (200 RYT-E and 500 RYT), and associate professor at SUNY at Buffalo. She is an associate editor of the journal Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment and Prevention. She is also the founder and president of Yogis in Service, Inc., a not-for-profit organization that creates access to yoga. The mother of two teenage girls, Dr. Cook-Cottone is married to Jerry Cottone, PhD, a fellow psychologist and yogi. Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools brings together Dr. Cook-Cottone's experience working with children and youth in schools and neighborhood settings. Dr. Cook-Cottone graduated from the Utica College of Syracuse University in 1989, receiving a BS degree in preprofessional psychology. She attended the State University of New York at Oswego for her MS degree in school psychology. In 1997, she received her PhD degree from the University at Buffalo, SUNY, in counseling psychology with a specialization in school psychology. She became a licensed psychologist in New York State the following year. Before entering academia, Dr. Cook-Cottone worked as a group worker and residential counselor for children in need, including adolescents classified as Persons in Need of Supervision and Juvenile Delinquents. She also worked in a neighborhood center for underserved, urban youth. As a school psychologist, she worked in both rural and urban settings, eventually transitioning to academia.Dr. Cook-Cottone is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, in the Department of Counseling, School, and Educational Psychology within the Graduate School of Education. Her research specializes in embodied self-regulation (i.e., yoga, mindfulness, and self-care) and psychosocial disorders. She has written four books and over 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her most recent book is titled Mindfulness and Yoga for Self-Regulation: A Primer for Mental Health Professionals. Presenting nationally and internationally, Dr. Cook-Cottone uses her model of embodied self-regulation to structure discussions on empirical work and practical applications. She teaches courses on mindful therapy, yoga for health and healing, self-care and service, and counseling with children and adolescents. She also maintains a private practice specializing in the treatment of anxiety-based disorders, eating disorders (including other disorders of self-care), and development of emotion regulation skills.Dr. Cook-Cottone has a passion for yoga and for serving others. She has been a yoga researcher since 2002 when she began implementing her eating disorder prevention program, Girls Growing in Wellness and Balance: Yoga and Life Skills to Empower. She became a certified and registered yoga instructor in 2010. In 2013, she began the work that evolved into Yogis in Service, Inc. This work began as informal yoga classes for an urban summer camp and evolved into what is now an official not-for-profit with a community yoga studio on the east side of Buffalo. Specifically, Yogis in Service, Inc. offers yoga to those who would not otherwise have access in settings such as after-school programs, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and universities. Dr. Cook-Cottone is honored to work with a collective of compassionate yoga teachers and students that are as excited as she is to share their love of yoga and yoga's effective tools for self-regulation.