Nancy Symons

Nancy Symons is an adjunct faculty member at Samuel Merritt University in the School of Nursing, teaching in the RN to BSN program with courses including "MBSR and The Neuroscience of Change" and "Humanities - Health and Illness". She integrates 12 years of palliative care experience as a chaplain and Executive Director of Partners in Care with mindfulness practices for patients and healthcare staff. Honorably retired from the Presbyterian Church (USA), she remains active in community service through the International Rescue Committee and Students Helping Honduras.

Her educational qualifications include:

• 1986: Masters of Counseling Psychology, Pepperdine University
• 1980: Masters of Divinity, San Francisco Theological Seminary
• 1976: Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

Ms. Symons specializes in mindfulness-based interventions within healthcare contexts, particularly palliative care settings. Her work bridges neuroscience, psychology, and spiritual care through formal training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) under Jon Kabat-Zinn and Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) through UC San Diego. She maintains a lifelong meditation practice focused on improving coping mechanisms for the seriously ill and healthcare providers, with research interests spanning mindfulness applications, illness narratives, and neuroscience of behavioral change in clinical environments.