Noon Time Workshops
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Why We Don't Have Free Will and Why That is Great News
Dr. Robert Sapolsky is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, a professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery at Stanford University, and a research associate at the National Museum of Kenya.
Sapolsky’s unique perspective on the human condition comes from more than thirty years spent as both a field primatologist and a laboratory neuroscientist. What fascinates Dr. Sapolsky most about human behavior is a paradox – we are both the most violent species on earth, as well as the most altruistic, cooperative and empathic. Out of this comes a perspective that as biological organisms, we have far less free will than usually assumed.
The Neuroscience of Meditation: Scientific Evidence to Support Your Practice
In this workshop, Dr. Angela Lumba-Brown, Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, discusses meditation's effects on the brain, body, and well-being. Dr. Lumba-Brown will share practical strategies for integrating meditation's benefits into your life with an overview of, and guided participation in, several types of meditation.
How Can We Connect? Understanding Roles and Patterns in Relationships
Clinical therapists Erik Wilkerson and Anastasia Morrison discuss roles that partners play in creating and shifting relationships. Our speakers introduce couples therapy concepts, raise awareness of predictable roles that tend to emerge, and help us recognize patterns that can result in couples feeling stuck or disconnected.
Speakers: Erik Wilkerson, Psy.D., and Anastasia Morrison, AMFT, are both clinical therapists at the Feeling Good Institute.
Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health and Wellbeing
Victoria Cosgrove, Ph.D., Mari Kurahashi, MD, Elizabeth Reichert, Ph.D., and John Leikauf, MD – all clinicians at the Stanford Parenting Center (SPC) – provide research-based tips and tools for parenting in our current era. Speakers address a range of topics, including mindful parenting, pediatric anxiety, screen time management, and how parents can support children with school-related issues.
Well Being Through Laughter Yoga
Carole Holcomb, a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher, and Leader, discusses the many health benefits of laughter and its role in developing a positive outlook and resiliency, especially during trying times. A Laughter Yoga session follows her presentation.
Building Emotional Resilience Amid Climate Chaos
As we face the physical realities of climate breakdown, the need for tending to our “internal ecosystems”—thoughts, feelings, and accompanying physiological responses—has emerged. In tandem with climate change acceleration, our emotional distress rises. It becomes clear that our internal landscapes can no longer be severed from those that surround us. Due to this lack of nuanced self-care, “eco-anxiety” arises. By learning new, neuroscience-informed methods to navigate challenging experiences, we can reactivate dormant capacities that have been undervalued. There are tremendous gains in leveraging more of our humanity when addressing the deep challenges of our times. Join Leslie Davenport as we explore perspectives and solutions for facing climate change with emotional resilience and social awareness.
The Art of Opening in the Moment: Relationships Simplified
Relationships, like all of life, unfold in the present moment. Successfully navigating the grand adventure of relationships depends on mindful awareness of our openness in each moment—our emotional aperture.
Our ability to sense that openness, our Aperture Awareness, helps us solve the riddle of human relationships: how to be known, loved, and supported while minimizing the potential frustrations and injuries of vulnerability. Knowing how to use this awareness to guide us as we interact helps us create dialogue—conversations that are collaborative explorations which build relationships, both in our personal lives and at work.
In her presentation, Kathryn Ford, M.D., will discuss the neuroscience of emotional aperture as well as methods for cultivating mindful aperture awareness.
SAINT: Past, Present, and Future: Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy for Depression
Dr. Ian Kratter discusses an experimental type of magnetic brain stimulation that has been shown to bring rapid remission to almost 80% of participants with severe depression in a study conducted at the Stanford School of Medicine. Dr. Kratter provides an overview of the research that led to the development of Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (known as SAINT, SNT, aiTBS), discusses results of SAINT clinical trials, and shares current and future research directions.
Dr. Kratter is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine. He is a faculty member in the Stanford Brain Stimulation Laboratory.
The Impact of Racism on Mental Wellness
Members of the Stanford Faculty Help Center clinical staff discuss the impact of racism on mental wellness. Speakers address the effects of racism on both individual and collective levels and offer tools for managing physical and emotional reactions to racism in culturally affirming ways. This is part one of a two-part workshop.
Recovering From Burnout
More than three-quarters of employees surveyed by Gallup in September 2019 said they had experienced burnout at work. Over a year into the pandemic, “today’s level of burnout is the result of an existing problem made exponentially worse.” Join Vinutha Mohan as she describes how to:
- Recognize symptoms of burnout
- Examine root causes that lead to burnout
- Develop strategies to cope with and heal from burnout
Lessons From the Pandemic
Stanford Professor Laura Carstensen (Psychology) highlights research findings on the strengths of older members of the population to lead us out of the COVID-19 pandemic with a sense of purpose, belonging and worth in all stages of life. Professor Carstensen provides a view of her Stanford Center on Longevity and its New Map of Life initiative.
CONNECT: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues
The ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections or unable to handle challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to others. In today’s workshop, David Bradford will discuss the book he co-authored with Carole Robin, CONNECT: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues—a transformative guide to building more fulfilling relationships based on the Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy-Feely”) course at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
COVID and the Aging Population: What We Have Learned Thus Far
The risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age. Many who care for older loved ones seek guidance informed by both current health science and an understanding of the stresses associated with caregiving. In this talk, Dr. Mehrdad Ayati, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, shares latest findings and guidelines for guarding the physical and mental well-being of elders and those who care for them.
Overcoming Colorblindness: Research and Recommendations for More Race-Conscious Schools and Communities
Camilla Griffiths is an advanced doctoral researcher who studies the role of race in K-12 educational contexts talked about:
- Persistent racial disparities in the educational achievement and disciplining of American students highlight the need to understand and shift educational policies and practices as they relate to race
- Highlight research that clarifies how kids learn and understand race as they develop, as well as research on the role that race has and continues to play in our K-12 education system
- Provide evidence-based suggestions for how to help school communities move away from colorblindness and towards race-consciousness and anti-racism
Surviving Narcissism: How to Relate to a Narcissist
Sophie Yost, LMFT and Dawn Guthart, LMFT. In this talk they speak about:
- How do you define and identify narcissism?
- Does the narcissist in your life seem fine, but makes things really hard for you?
- What steps can you take to not feel emotionally drained by the narcissist in your life?
Out of the Muck: Causes and Cures for Destructive Organizational Friction
Professor Robert Sutton is an organizational psychologist and professor of management science and engineering at Stanford. In this talk he speaks about:
- Why, all too often, organizations make the right things too hard to do
- How leaders and teams can intervene to dampen destructive friction
- Practices and traditions at Stanford that cause destructive friction—and how we can each be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem
Does This Spark Joy? Tools for De-Cluttering
Susie DuBois is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in the treatment of Hoarding Disorder and collecting behaviors. In this talk she speaks about:
- A general overview of Marie Kondo's method of de-cluttering and organizing
- A mental health perspective of what is missing from Kondo's method and what may be harmful for some
- How to approach Marie Kondo's method if you have moderate to severe collecting behaviors