Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART)
- Continuing Education

Build emotional resilience and improve well-being through the Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program—an evidence-based, 8-week interactive course that teaches mind-body techniques and self-care practices to reduce stress through active participation and group engagement.
- Live Online
This course is taught online in real time.
Continuing Education Credits
Earn up to:
16.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) ™
8 Weeks, 1 Day per Week
Participants must attend at minimum 7 sessions. Please view the Schedule for a full description of the program.
On This Page
Overview
Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) teaches self-care practices that help participants buffer daily stress, regain a sense of emotional control and enhance quality of life. Throughout the 8-week group program, participants build resilience through a variety of mind body principles and self-care interventions, leading to reduced medical symptoms and enhanced quality of life.
This research-proven program helps participants:
- Understand the connection between stress and physical or emotional problems.
- Learn a variety of techniques to elicit the relaxation response, the body’s innate stress buffer.
- Experience the central role social support and connection to something greater than oneself plays in well-being.
- Practice cognitive skills that will diminish negative thought habits.
- Appreciate the role of positive thoughts and beliefs.
- Learn the importance of healthy eating, restorative sleep, and physical activity.
SMART is a participatory, self-care intervention built upon interpersonal discourse, discussion and reflective activities. While recordings are available, SMART is not designed for passive viewing. If you cannot commit to being present for at least six sessions of the course, we recommend you choose a different learning opportunity.
Learning Objectives
- Define the body’s response to stress, known as allostasis and allostatic load, and the role it plays in the development or exacerbation of medical conditions.
- Recognize how modifiable lifestyle behaviors synchronized to circadian rhythm builds resiliency.
- Enrich patient-provider relationship to affect patient outcomes.
- Develop skills in a variety of meditation methods that elicit the relaxation response.
- Utilize tools to prevent provider burnout and its consequences.
- Identify the biological effects of the stress response and, in contrast, the relaxation response on brain and body.
- Develop strategies to lower your risk of provider burnout.
- Enhance functional expression of empathy to improve clinical performance and personal resiliency.
- Apply mind-body interventions in the treatment of multiple disease symptomatology.
- Assess the influence of gut health and diet on emotional and physical health.
- Improve their ability to motivate patients towards sustainable behavior change.
- Deliver a more effective, integrative model of care.
- Use newfound skills and tools to improve patient outcomes.
- Identify modifiable risk factors for brain health.
- Explain mind-body science of depression.
- Acquire skill in state-of-the-art cognitive behavioral therapies applied to patients with a range of stress-related emotional and physical problems.
- Identify the components of the Benson-Henry Care Model.
- Support health care change designed to reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases.
- Define the underlying influences of happiness.
- Formulate a more integrative model of patient care.
- Experience a variety of healing modalities.
- Review novel behavioral health interventions designed to influence brain health.
Developed and Offered By:
Continuing Education courses are developed by faculty from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals and accredited by Harvard Medical School. This course is offered by Mass General Brigham.
Faculty
Harvard Medical School Continuing Education attracts the best and brightest faculty from all around the world. As a student in this course, you’ll have access to outstanding course directors and faculty.
Course Directors
John Denninger
MD, PhD
- Director of Genomic Research, Benson-Henry Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital; Instructor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Katherine Rosa
PhD, FNP-BC
- Co-Director, SMART Clinical Program, Benson-Henry Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital; Instructor, Part-Time, Harvard Medical School
- Laura Malloy, LICSW, Director of Yoga Programs, Co-Director, Education Initiative Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Darshan Mehta, MD, Medical Director, Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Education Director, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
Request Information
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Course Fees
Fee Disclaimer
Fee Disclaimer
You may register through our secure online environment and will receive an email confirmation upon receipt of your payment.
At the end of the registration process, a $10 non-refundable processing fee will be added to your registration.
Role | Standard Price |
---|---|
Physician (MD/DO) | $700.00 |
Nurse (RN/APRN) | $700.00 |
PA | $700.00 |
Resident/Fellow | $700.00 |
Social Worker | $700.00 |
Allied Health Professional / Other | $700.00 |