Free program focusing on spiritual, physical and mental health to start in Breckenridge on Sunday, March 1
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
Beginning tomorrow, Sunday, March 1, the local community will have an opportunity to participate in a free nationwide program called “Amen Whole-4 for Faith Communities.” The program will be offered in two six-week sessions on Sunday afternoons.
The program is described as an opportunity to “rewire your brain to transform your body, mind, relationships and spirit.” It will include watching a video by Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist who developed the program. He also founded and runs the Amen Clinics around the country and is the founder of the Change Your Brain Foundation, BrainMD, and Amen University.
In Breckenridge, Julie Carstens McNett will serve as the local ambassador for the program, helping to facilitate the overall sessions and smaller groups. Also involved in the local event is Yuri Huntington, a personal coach in Breckenridge who promotes brain health; she also is the National Faith Ambassador for Amen Whole-4.
The first program will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, March 1, at Victory Life Church, 1612 U.S. Highway 180 East. It will be free to anyone who wants to participate. The program will be offered for six Sundays for the foundational session, followed by a brief break and then six more Sundays for the mastery section, McNett said. Participants do not have to attend every session, including the first one; materials and tools that will allow them to “catch up” on what they missed will be available.
“A little background on (Dr. Amen): He is a world renowned psychiatrist, and he co-wrote ‘The Daniel Plan,'” McNett said. “He’s offering this program for free, which it’s normally a $1,500 program, and he’s offering it around the United States for free. He’s partnered with the White House on this. I mean, it’s a big deal. So there’s people that are all over the nation that are going to be doing this at the same time.”
The program is for anyone age 14 and older, and McNett said families are encouraged to participate together. “It’s really for anybody, because (Dr. Amen) really incorporates the spiritual, he incorporates the mental, and he incorporates the physical,” she said. “So if you want more of a spiritual program, you’ll get that out of it. The mental health part is huge for me. So, you know, it’s great for me. But then it will correlate how your physical health incorporates your mental health, which incorporates your spiritual health. We just tie it all together.”
McNett said Sunday’s program will begin with a 45-minute video, followed by participants breaking into smaller groups for discussion.
“It’s mapped out beautifully. You do a brain assessment when you start, and then you do a brain assessment when you’re done, so you can see how you’ve changed,” she said, explaining that participants will get journal and devotional prompts throughout the program. “It’s not just like you do it on Sunday and then forget about it. You have ways to build and to grow with it all week long, up until your next session. They’ve really done a really good job. They give you the tools to do it all. It’s pretty incredible. And the beauty of it is, you’re not doing it alone. You’re not just sitting in your house doing this with no direction or no accountability. Your accountability is the people that are in your group with you.”
The program is designed to help participants grow in their spiritual, mental and physical health, no matter where they’re starting from, McNett said.
“This really is very broad,” she said. “This is for anybody that wants growth of any kind. You don’t have to have mental health issues to be able to do it; you will grow from it. You could have somebody that’s the physically fittest that they can be, and they will still grow from this. You can have someone that you know is extremely filled with the Holy Spirit; they will still grow from this. It’s for everybody, and they’ve really done a good job of making it very broad.”
McNett and Huntington worked together in 2024 on the “Mind Matters: Break the Stigma” event that was organized to remove the stigma associated with mental illness, to encourage anyone who needs help to seek it and to save lives by preventing suicide.
Anyone interested in participating in the Amen Whole-4 program can pre-register by emailing McNett at juliecarstensmcnett@gmail.com or by visiting the Facebook page Amen Whole-4 Breckenridge.
