Healing the Healers: Cultivating Practices for Self-Care

Melissa Lucey, M.D., is a Family Medicine physician, living at Mount Madonna Center. She attended medical school at Emory University in Atlanta, and completed her residency training at UCSF, helping to staff the Family Health Center and the inpatient wards at San Francisco General Hospital. Following residency she moved to Oakland, CA, and worked in primary care at Kaiser Permanente for 11 years (Oakland and Berkeley campuses). She has a particular interest in women’s health, and in addition to work within primary care, she also worked at Kaiser leading prenatal Centering groups, and within the Gynecology department. Melissa is excited to be a co-creator of the Healing the Healers Retreat, helping to bring an integrated and holistic approach to self-care and overall health. She lives at Mount Madonna with her husband, Umesh, and two young children, Lio and Gus.

Giovanna Zerbi, Psy.D., started her career in behavioral health directing several mental health outpatient clinics after which she joined UC San Diego as a clinical supervisor. For the last 12 years of her career, Giovanna served as the Director of Behavioral Programs at the UCSD Physician Assessment and Clinical Education Program, providing, among other services, behavioral and wellness workshops for physicians. In that context, she taught mindfulness, self-care, and Nonviolent Communication. She also helped establish a “Second Victim” program designed to support all employees of the UC San Diego healthcare system who suffer from vicarious traumatization.

Giovanna studied Zen Buddhism under the guidance of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. She attended numerous retreats both in the United States and Europe. In 2001, she was ordained as a lay minister in the Tiep Hien Order, where she continues to practice engaged Buddhism.

Now retired from UCSD, Giovanna and her wife Judy split their time between San Diego and Riva del Garda, Italy, which allows them to spend time with their sons Garrett and Tommy in the United States, and Francesco in Italy.

Tom Tighe, D.O., F.A.C.E.P., was a long time emergency physician and short time palliative hospice physician, and is now retired. His career in medicine included serving as medical advisor of a Bay Area air ambulance company, and chief of staff and board member of a Bay Area non-profit two-hospital system. He was a volunteer physician at Sri Ram Ashram Orphanage and medical clinic in Shyampur, India.

Tom has been an avid yoga student and practitioner for approximately 50 years (plus “many lifetimes - a slow learner”) and graduated from Mount Madonna’s Yoga Teacher Training program in 1980. He currently volunteers at the Cape Cod National Seashore North Atlantic Coastal Lab.

Tom is husband of Peggy Green, educational consultant and retired school superintendent, father of Nathan, a pediatric anesthesiologist and musician, and daughter-in-law, Ashley Hall, professional musician and coach; and grandfather of Kevin and Morgan.

Sudha Prathikanti, M.D., is Board-certified in Adult Psychiatry, a diplomate of the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, and a certified Ayurvedic practitioner. At the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, she founded both the Integrative Psychiatry and the Ayurveda consultation services, and currently directs the Integrative Psychiatry Teaching Clinic at this site. Her research on treating depression with yoga has been featured in local and national media.

Peggy Green, M.A., educator and “Forever Student”, has enjoyed a career in education that included public school special education teacher, administrator and public school superintendent. She taught, lectured, and supervised student teachers at universities in Iowa and California. She worked for 11 years as an administrative coach for a California nonprofit, stimulating systemic reform to improve the teaching and learning of minority and underperforming students in the Central Valley, Bay Area, and Monterey Bay.

Peggy led a group of public school teachers and superintendents to India to support the school at the Sri Ram Ashram in Shyampur, as well as served as a summer camp leader at the orphanage. Additionally, she volunteered at the Sri Ram Ashram medical clinic with her husband.

She completed Yoga Teacher Training in 1980 and is currently studying to integrate her long term yoga practice with Buddhist practices of compassion. Peggy cared for and educated her two grandchildren from infancy through COVID homeschool and hybrid learning. She volunteers as a reading tutor and lives with her husband of 42 years (retired) Dr. Tom Tighe in Cape Cod, MA.

Sean Neesley (he/him), MA, LMFT, E-RYT 500: As a marriage and family therapist in private practice, Sean specializes in working with couples and individuals to promote deep personal growth through honest, open and authentic self-reflection and communication. Sean has been a student and teacher of yoga practice and philosophy for over a decade, was a resident at Mount Madonna for five years, and currently serves as a faculty member for Mount Madonna Institute’s Yoga Teacher Training programs. As both a therapist and teacher he is passionate about experiential learning and practical tools that promote balance, knowledge, and lasting peace. LMFT #139875.