Selene Kumin Vega, Ph.D., LMFT

Selene Kumin Vega, Ph.D., LMFT
Faculty, Mind-Body Medicine

"A deep source of wisdom and intuition is accessible inside each of us that can direct us on the path toward healing and aligning the fragmented parts of ourselves. Assisting people to access that wisdom and move toward integration and wholeness in their lives aligns us with an evolutionary current of development that can heal not only individuals on that path, but the community and world we live in."

According to Selene Kumin Vega, Ph.D., her teaching philosophy is guided by a few simple questions: “How can I encourage my students to grow as human beings? How can I inspire openness, flexibility, resiliency, and willingness to experiment, as well as enhance their ability to move in the world in a creative way?” Through lifelong research and experience with these questions, she has cultivated an in-depth understanding of human creativity and expression and their integral worth to our psychological well-being.

At age 15, when she became an instructor to the youngest students at her mother’s dance studio, her passion for incorporating means of creative expression into teaching officially took root. As she grew older, so did this passion.

At age 18, she began teaching junior high students from underprivileged areas as a part of a program to introduce them to the arts. Through this work, she observed how important the use of creativity-developing exercises could be, as they provided a space where participants could openly and freely express themselves. Using exercises that included movement improvisation and rhythm games, Dr. Vega was able to foster an environment for the students that encouraged curiosity, self-confidence, openness to experience, imagination, and expression. As a long-term result, her dance instruction methods expanded to include other experiential modalities that facilitate self-exploration, connection, and transformation.

Dr. Vega later earned an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and her psychotherapy license that grounded her movement, trance, and ritual work in the world of mainstream psychology. Later, she further developed her academic pursuits when she earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from Saybrook University with a concentration in Consciousness and Spirituality.

After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Vega served as a faculty member at multiple institutions. Her journey would come full circle, however, when her work in higher education led her back to Saybrook, joining the College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences in 2011 as a faculty mentor. One semester later she began teaching core classes in the Mind-Body Medicine programs, as well as mentoring students and serving on dissertation committees. Over time, she transitioned into a leadership role, developing and revising courses as well as creating and overseeing the Mind-Body-Spirit Integration (MBSI) seminar for all new students.

Dr. Vega has never forgotten her earliest lessons in teaching. In her classroom, she focuses on engaging students in a process of learning that includes movement, meditation, guided imagery, expressive arts, and sharing about themselves and their experiences within small, facilitated groups.

“Our highest potential as human beings is to truly embrace the mutual interdependence of all the beings of this world and to value the full development of potentialities and consciousness for all,” Dr. Vega says. “This involves an ongoing process of healing the wounds in our psyches, fully inhabiting our bodies, increasing our consciousness while developing a healthy relationship with our unconscious aspects, and deepening our relationships with other humans as well as with the other inhabitants of the planet we share. I encourage each student to grow toward their own individual potential and trust their inner wisdom with the support of mentors and teachers they respect.”