BIDWELL CONSULTING
resilience training, psychotherapy and meditation instruction
MEET JAN BIDWELL
Everyone gets stuck sometimes. If we could unstick ourselves, we would. No one can take out their own tonsils. We all need guidance and company as we face our challenges.
Jan has been helping people as they shape their outer lives and sculpt their inner landscapes for decades. She is a licensed clinical Social Worker, social activist, front line crisis responder, community activist, psychotherapist, and mediation teacher.
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She is a Gerstalt therapist with 7 years of post-graduate intitute training., and is trained in EMDR. She has been in private practice for decades.
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Throughout her life Jan has sought spiritual guidance, subsequently having over 10,000 hours of training in meditation, mindfulness, and focused breathing. She has been teaching meditation since 1987, instructing individuals, holding weekly mediation groups, running weekend silent retreats, and speaking to groups about how mindfulness and meditation increase resiliency.
Jan was the first social worker embedded in a city police department in Michigan. Being the only civilian to go out with patrol, she saw the challenges facing law enforcement, as well as the underserved populations of the city. She learned that law enforcement is tasked to face more than civilians can know, with inadequate resources available. She identified huge gaps between police and social services systems, striving to build bridges between the existing silos whenever possible.
She has founded three 501(c)3 entities, serving as board president for each. She has served in numerous boards and task forces, including advising a governor on his transition team regarding child welfare.
Education
Masters of Social Work: New York University, 1984
Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, Communication and Psychology: Michigan State University 1974
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Training
Seven years of Gestalt Institute Training;
Graduate of The Gestalt Therapy Training Center of Washington, D.C.
Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy, New York City
Hartford Family Institute, Hartford, Connecticut
EMDRIA approved EMDR training, Chicago EMDR Consulting
Advanced Master Program on the Treatment of Trauma: National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine
Meditation
Over 10,000 hours of meditation training from India to California, to Manhattan and Upstate New York.
Over 400 hours with Anusara Yoga founder, John Friend.
Certified in Medical Meditation and Weight Management