Mindfulness & Stress Management Group

No. This is a skills-building program, not group therapy or a support group. If you're looking for a space to share experiences and connect with others managing AGS, the Inter-Island Public Health Excellence Collaborative runs a monthly Alpha-Gal Syndrome Support Group.

Patients managing Alpha-Gal Syndrome or chronic Lyme disease who want practical tools for the stress, anxiety, and disruption these conditions can bring to daily life.

No. While many participants are current Tick Center patients, the group is open to anyone managing AGS or chronic Lyme, including those not yet established as patients here.

Each 90-minute session combines guided mindfulness practice, brief teaching on a specific stress-management skill, and group discussion. Dr. Folchman draws on mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), adapted for the specific challenges of living with a chronic tick-borne health condition.

No prior experience is needed. The program is designed to be accessible whether this is your first exposure to mindfulness practice or you've tried it before.

Yes. As with any group setting, all participants are asked to keep what's shared in the room confidential. Your individual health information is handled the same way it is elsewhere at the Tick Center.

Because the group builds skills week to week and stays small and closed for the full 8 weeks, we ask participants to commit to attending all 8 sessions before signing up. There are no makeup sessions for time missed.

We don't bill insurance directly for this program — the $600 is a flat, private-pay fee for the full 8-session course. The Tick Center handles billing on Dr. Folchman's behalf and can provide paperwork you can submit to your own insurance provider for possible reimbursement. If cost is a barrier, financial aid may be available — mention this when you sign up.

Payment for all 8 sessions is due in advance, before the course begins. Once you sign up below, our team will follow up with you directly to confirm your spot and arrange payment.

Because the $600 fee covers the full 8-session course and is paid in advance, it is non-refundable, and there are no makeup sessions for time missed. Please make sure you can commit to all 8 sessions before signing up.

Check the box on the sign-up form below, or mention it in the notes field, and we'll reach out to talk through options before you commit to a spot. You can also email tickcenter@mvmed.org directly.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a structured, evidence-based program originally developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. It teaches mindfulness meditation and body-awareness practices to help people respond to stress, pain, and illness with more steadiness, rather than being swept up in it.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) builds on MBSR by adding tools from cognitive therapy. It focuses on recognizing unhelpful thought patterns as they arise and changing your relationship to difficult thoughts and emotions, rather than getting pulled into them.

Dr. Ruth Folchman, PsyD, CGP, is a licensed clinical psychologist who lives full-time in Aquinnah and received her doctorate from Antioch New England Graduate School in 2004. She is a Certified Group Psychotherapist through the American Group Psychotherapy Association and a certified teacher in both Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, trained through the UMass Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. She brings that clinical background to a program focused specifically on the stress of living with AGS or chronic Lyme disease, and is one of The Tick Center's integrative health partners — an independent, licensed provider, not a Tick Center employee, in the same way as our other integrative partners.