Lisa Miller, Professor of Psychology and Education and Director of the Spirituality & Mind Body Institute (SMBI) at Teachers College, was featured on NBC’s Today show on Monday, March 30 as part of a week-long series on spirituality.

Watch Monday’s segment on the science of spirituality, which aired twice on Monday, once between 8:00 and 9:00 am, and again between 10:00 and 11:00 am.

Miller was interviewed at TC by Jenna Bush Hager about her research and forthcoming book The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving, which presents a scientific link between spirituality and health and reveals the emotional and academic benefits for children who have a positive, active relationship to spirituality. Combining research with broad anecdotal evidence from her work as a clinical psychologist, Miller translates these findings into practical advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop and encourage their children’s—and their own—well-being.

The segment also features the work of the Spirituality & Mind Body Institute, with students involved in the Institute and its new LEO (Learning, Evolving, Opening) Wellness Center.

The Today show web site also features a guest post by Lisa, “How to raise a spiritual child: 3 exercises to try with your family.”“Every child is born a spiritual child,” writes Lisa. “But this inborn capacity can be strengthened into the greatest of all our human resources through parenting.”

The Spirituality & Mind Body Institute is part of TC’s clinical psychology program, which launched the Ivy League’s first master’s degree in psychology and spirituality. Students receive graduate training both in the science and practice of spirituality within psychotherapy, meditation, wellness practices and mind-body work, as well as in the arts.

The LEO Wellness Center, within SMBI, opened in February. LEO provides a developmental space for graduate training and the TC community, making spiritually integrated work accessible and offering weekly groups, periodic guest workshops, and spiritually oriented special events.

Published Monday, Mar. 30, 2015