Healing Roots in Italy:
Community, Ritual and Sacred Space

Trip Dates: Arrive in Fasano, Italy, Saturday, September 7th
Leave Fasano, Italy, Friday, September 13th

Trip Itinerary

Course Focus

• Develop a vision for personal healing space within your life, home and work
• Examine the history of healing practices within Italy and their relation to the history of healing practices in the United States
• Describe two or more healing herbs used in Italy, their use and how you might cultivate them in the United States
• Discuss the components of healing sites in rural Italy
• Examine how relationships impact health and healing within the community and family context

• 600 year old sagre (festival) of the Madonna Dei Martiri
• Ritual of the Taranta, a century old community based healing ritual held with music, color and dance
• Opportunity to explore places in Italy where Taranta were practiced
• The following natural sacred spaces:
  • An olive grove or organic farm for a meditative walk and discussion of healing herbs
  • The caves at Grotte De Castenllana
  • An onsite cooking class to learn traditional Puglia pasta making techniques    

The below dates and Prices are Subject to Change.

Trip Price: $1,600.00 per person, double occupancy

To put a deposit down for the Italy trip, please go to https://www.ahna.org/Shop/Specialty-CNE

Facilitators

Roxane Raffin Chan, PhD, BSN, MS, AHN-BC has worked as a holistic nurse for 30 years.  Over the course of her career, she has worked in acute and community settings, administration, academia and is the immediate past president of AHNA.  She has published research articles on holistic nursing interventions that have been funded by the NIH.  Roxane’s career focuses on providing equal access to the social determinants of health which led her to work within communities to build connections that sustains well-being.  Roxane is a first-generation Italian American on her mother’s side and second generation on her father’s side.  Both sides of her family are from the northern part of Italy near Venice, where she still has many cousins. Though her Italian heritage, Roxane has experienced the benefit of community, art, sacred space and shared home cooked meals to improve wellness which she incorporates in her nursing work.






Silvia Oggioni, RN, LPC is a Family and Community Nurse, Geriatrics, Holistic Counselor, Teacher of Holistic Nursing, meditation techniques and personal growth. Silvia is committed, personally and as Italian Chapter leader of AHNA, to promoting a holistic vision in the healthcare sector through scientific dissemination and teaching. Silvia is passionate about body-focused research since the age of 20.  Her teaching  develops, through body-focused work as she leads the participants in her courses to discover their own value. The Roots of Italy event is of particular importance to her as she feels that, the grounding and the physical immersion in the experience is essential to become aware of one's own true power. Her Sanskrit name gave her by her Spiritual Master Osho is Madhavi, which means both Mother and Earth.  Silvia is honored to co-lead this program and accompany the participants as they explore themselves through their inner origins.



 

Dott. Sevario DePinto, RN has worked 40 years as a surgical oncology nurse with a holistic approach towards care and the human person.  He has participated in advancing practice and research to better treat pain and humanize treatments within the association of operating room nurses (AICO).  Saverio is grateful for scientific progress in this area, however he believes that we must also continue to advance our understanding of the human and spiritual approach toward all patients and fellow care givers.  Since his youth, Saverio has cultivated interests in spirituality, philosophy, and farming. He currently tends his organic farm in Bari, finding poetry and healing there.  Saverio believes in the  value of our humanity,  and the importance of feeling together, and acting together with a common heart.  As a member of AHNA since 2019, he is excited to bring his heart and knowledge to the Healing Roots of Italy trip.

 

Maria Luisa Sancilio, RN has been a dialysis nurse for 35 years. In her professional career she approached the holistic world, which made her understand the true meaning of health and illness. She is trained in various monothematic courses: Bach flower therapy, foot reflexology, olfactory gem therapy, Vodder lymphatic drainage.  She has completed her education and is also a naturopath. Nowadays she teaches craniosacral balancing, and practices music therapy with the use of Tibetan bells. In 2018 she joined the Italian AHNA network where many healthcare professionals give voice to holistic nursing in Italy. "I remember that when I was little I was fascinated by majestic trees. Their perfume represented for me the security that comes from small things. I feel a strong bond with my land, Puglia, because it taught me that simple things are always enough to grow in body, soul and spirit”.

 

Sabrina Petersen, MSN(c), RN, HN-BC has been on a transformative journey exploring various modalities of healing since 2000, shaping her approach to healthcare. Her professional experience spans the United States and abroad, focusing on chronic disease management, community health, and hospice and palliative care. As an active member of the American Holistic Nurses Association, Sabrina serves as co-leader for the Southeastern CT/RI Chapter. Sabrina seeks to merge evidence-based scientific methods with integrative health practices. She believes in caring for the well-being of the whole patient and is equally committed to fostering environments of wellness within healthcare systems. Inspired by her mother’s journey from Italy to the United States, Sabrina longs to understand the indigenous wisdom and healing principles of their ancestral land. She looks forward to how this journey will enrich her nursing practice, giving her further understanding of the importance of cultural understanding and personal connections in healthcare.






Lynn Veccharelli, MSN, BSN, RN, AHN-BC has been incorporating holistic modalities both personally and professionally for more than three decades. Over the course of her career, she has worked in acute care, education, administration,  occupational health and safety and case management, spending 40 years caring for our United States Veterans.  Lynn serves as Co-Leader of the Fairfield CT Chapter of AHNA.  She is honored to pay tribute to nurses that have gone before us and celebrate our Florence Nightengale legacy as a member of the Connecticut Nurse Honor Guard. Lynn has traveled to India on spiritual pilgrimages to study ayurvedic medicine and yoga. She uses her holistic nursing advanced certification and her certification as a health and wellness nurse coach to assist clients to self-empower and adopt effective life-changing behaviors.  Lynn is excited to reconnect with her Italian heritage having studied at University of Padua in Italy, many years ago. Her hope is this experience will reignite and deepen our holistic well-being and philosophical work.