Tai Sophia Now Enrolling for New Health and Wellness-based Graduate Programs

Laurel, MD (Vocus) January 19, 2010

Tai Sophia Institute, an accredited, non-profit educational institution focused on wellness studies, announced today that it is doubling its health and wellness-based graduate programs in 2010 following Maryland Higher Education Commission’s (MHEC) approval of the following five new graduate certificate programs: Health Coaching, Herbal Studies, Medical Herbalism, Transformative Leadership, and Wellness Coaching. Enrollment is now open for all five programs. Each program consists of 12 or 15 graduate credits and is offered in an executive format for nine to 11 weekends over the course of nine to 11 months to accommodate working professionals.

“The steps our nation is taking in updating how we approach health care are changes that Tai Sophia has advocated since its founding in 1974,” said Tai Sophia Institute President and Co-founder Robert M. Duggan, M.A., M.Ac. (UK). “The current sick-care/disease-focused health-care system isn’t sustainable and growing numbers of people are dissatisfied and longing to learn how to live well. Through our newly expanded offerings, Tai Sophia is educating the wellness workforce of the future and empowering individuals with sustainable, wellness-based practices.”

“Tai Sophia’s new graduate certificate programs offer health-care professionals and other interested individuals seeking advanced education new academic opportunities to bring valuable and highly relevant skills and competencies to their current work, springboard to a new career in the nation’s emerging wellness system, or apply new skills to their community, their families and themselves,” said Tai Sophia Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Judith K. Broida, Ph.D. “Tai Sophia’s signature blend of global wellness wisdom, drawn from ancient and contemporary healing traditions, modern science, and the timeless teachings of nature, clearly sets our programs apart.” Licensed professionals enrolled in the new graduate certificate programs may also receive continuing education credits toward their professional licensing requirements.

Graduate Certificate Programs

• Transformative Leadership. An experiential program, designed for established and emerging leaders as well as anyone seeking to be a catalyst for change, that teaches students the art of leadership in a way that creates sustainable change in themselves and in turn, the workplace and the larger community.
• Health Coaching. Designed for licensed or certified health-care professionals who want to learn skills to guide their patients and clients to adopt attitudes, lifestyle changes, and self-care approaches conducive to optimal health and healing.
• Wellness Coaching. The only program of its type in the country, Tai Sophia’s Graduate Certificate in Wellness Coaching offers a curriculum similar to the health coaching certificate for professionals who work outside a clinical setting, such as educators, life coaches, fitness instructors, and human resource professionals.
• Medical Herbalism. Designed for licensed or certified health-care professionals, the Graduate Certificate in Medical Herbalism provides a foundational knowledge of herbal medicine that emphasizes issues of quality, safety, and efficacy so that health-care practitioners can have informed conversations about herbal products with their patients and herbal medicine experts.
• Herbal Studies. For the herbal enthusiast and individuals who have a background or interest in horticulture and gardening, nutrition and the culinary arts and, the environment and sustainability, public health and education as well as parents and caregivers, the Herbal Studies graduate certificate teaches basic knowledge and skills to support self care through the incorporation of herbs into food preparation and a healthy diet.

“Tai Sophia’s new herbal graduate certificates are delivered by an internationally recognized faculty and address the clear need for education about herbs and herbal supplements at all levels, as evidenced by the $5 billion and still-growing herbal products industry,” explained Broida. “Health and wellness coaching are considered to be among the top, cutting-edge health-care careers for the next decade.”

Prospective students can learn more about all of Tai Sophia’s graduate programs at open houses on January 23 and March 20 and at an Herb Walk/Herbal Program Information Session on April 7. For more information and to register for these events, contact Graduate Admissions at 410-888-9048 ext. 6647 or admissions(at)tai(dot)edu.

About Tai Sophia Institute

Tai Sophia Institute, a private, nonprofit academic institution based in Laurel, MD, is a leading center for wellness-based education, client care and public policy discourse. Tai Sophia Institute is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. In addition to the five new graduate certificate programs, Tai Sophia offers the nation’s first accredited Master of Acupuncture, the nation’s first and only Master of Science in Herbal Medicine, and the innovative Master of Arts in Transformative Leadership and Social Change.

Founded in 1974 in Columbia, MD, and first opening the doors of its healing arts clinic in 1975, Tai Sophia Institute has evolved into a diverse health and wellness resource, providing accredited graduate academic programs, continuing professional education, community wellness programs, and clinical services in acupuncture, nutrition counseling, herbal medicine, and more through its Natural Care Center. The Institute’s 12-acre main campus also houses a bookstore, a library, herb and meditation gardens, and the Himmelfarb Gallery -- all of which are open to the public.

NOTE TO EDITORS: View the release plus additional information at URL: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Health_Wellness/Graduate_Program/prweb3463164.htm

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