Whole Body Mental Health Radio

LIFT (verb): to move something to a higher position; to make something more interesting and enjoyable; to make someone happier.   The weekly LIFT podcast aims to bring perspective and grow resilience through brief mind-body medicine insights and guided mindfulness practices geared for these interesting times.   Mind-body-spirit medicine, stress reduction, positive psychology,  and Eastern contemplative practices.   Mindful Psychiatry and the Mind-Body Mental Health Radio 2020©. All Rights Reserved.

Arwen Podesta MD, ABPN, FASAM, ABIHMis a board certified adult psychiatrist with sub-specializations in addiction medicine, forensic psychiatry, and integrative & holistic medicine. She has a background in biochemistry, complementary medicine and massage therapy. She was excited to successfully merge her intellectual and vocational interests by becoming a medical doctor. She graduated from University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, and then moved to New Orleans for a psychiatry residency at Louisiana State University. She then pursued a fellowshipin Forensic Psychiatry at Tulane University.After Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Podesta was involved with psychiatric care for the most needy anddisenfranchised. She was awarded the Gambit’s 40 Under 40 in 2009. She has been activelyworking in the public sector as Medical Director of ACER and Chief Medical Officer ofLongbranch Recovery, while also consulting with Orleans Criminal Court Intervention (DrugCourt), and Municipal Court Diversion Services. She is also chair and co-creator of the NewOrleans Forensic Mental Health Coalition. In August 2017, she became the President of theLouisiana Chapter of the Society of Addiction Medicine. At all of these venues and programs,her main focus is access to holistic addiction and dependency treatment, and rationalprescribing practices.Dr. Podesta continues to teach and pursue academics, is Tulane Clinical Faculty, is on adissertation committee at UTH Dallas, teaches at the NOPD Academy, and consults withseveral other organizations and institutions. She is a well renowned speaker, and travels toteach and speak on the subjects of Addiction Medicine and Integrative Psychiatry.After opening Podesta Psychiatry LLC in 2012, Dr. Podesta has been voted into New OrleansMagazine Best Doctors every year. The team at Podesta Psychiatry include some of the besttreatment providers in the Gulf Coast. Podesta Psychiatry has grown toward the multi-disciplinary collaborative model that embodies Dr. Podesta’s wellness model for whole health. www.podfestawellness.com

  Steve Dansiger, PsyD, MFT  Dr. Steve played CBGB and Max’s Kansas City in the late 70s; drank, played drums in a toy rock band and then got sober in the late 80s; became an international educator and rocker again in the 90s; and a sought after clinician, writer and meditation teacher in the 2000s. Dr. Steve has attempted to cure Marc Maron on WTF, become a master EMDR therapist and provider of EMDR Basic Training and Advanced Topics Courses with the Institute for Creative Mindfulness, and with Noah Levine helped set up the premiere Buddhist addictions rehab center, Refuge Recovery Centers. At the center he has developed and instituted the MET(T)A Method and Protocol, a design for addictions agency treatment using Buddhist Mindfulness and EMDR Therapy as the theoretical orientation and primary clinical practice. He is the author of Clinical Dharma: A Path for Healers and Helpers (2016) and avidly blogs and podcasts on topics related to mental health, recovery, and mindfulness. Besides maintaining a private practice in Los Angeles, he travels nationally and internationally speaking and teaching on Buddhist mindfulness, EMDR therapy, the MET(T)A Method, trauma, the Refuge Recovery treatment model, and clinician self-care. He has been practicing Buddhist mindfulness for almost 30 years (including a one year residency at a Zen monastery), and teaches dharma classes regularly at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society and other centers nationally and internationally. His second book (co-authored with Dr. Jamie Marich), EMDR Therapy and Mindfulness for Trauma-Focused Care, is available now on Springer Publications.More information can be found at: www.drdansiger.com www.mettaprotocol.com facebook.com/drstephendansiger instagram.com/drdansiger/

Renowned Sex therapist Dr. Alexandra Katehakis gives a great interview that would serve as a primer to any therapist about sex addiction.  Dr. Alexandra "Alex" Katehakis is a published, award-winning author, licensed psychotherapist, and is recognized as a leader in the field of Integrative sex therapy. Katehakis makes regular contributions to publications like Psychology Today and the Huffington Post, has been interviewed by Rolling Stone, Washington Post and the LA Times, has made several television appearances on programs like Inside Hollywood, Spike TV and CNN, and is frequently featured as a prominent expert panelist at sexuality conferences worldwide alongside the likes of Dan Siegel and Christopher Kennedy Lawford.She is the Clinical Director of Center For Healthy Sex, a treatment center based in Los Angeles. Katehakis holds licensure and certification with several different mental health organizations: Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT) with the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP), for which she is a clinical supervisor and member of the teaching faculty; Certified Sex Therapist (CST) with the American Association of Sex Educators Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) for which she is also a clinical supervisor; Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS), and Senior Fellow at the Meadows inpatient trauma and addiction rehabilitation center in Arizona.

Robin Cooper, MD has been in private practice with a focus on both psychotherapy and medical management throughout her 35 years of practice. She has a clinical appointment of Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco where she has had many different roles in education and supervision. She has always had a parallel interest in treatment and advocacy for services of severely mentally ill, serving on a number of boards including representing the California Psychiatric Association to the state stakeholders’ organization, California Coalition for Mental Health Her interest in issues of climate change impacts on mentally ill derives from her many years of political work on climate change politics specifically working with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, on national legislation on a carbon tax with revenues returned to American families. Her concern for environmental justice ha been has fueled her interest in understanding the differential impacts of climate disruption on poor, underserved communities including the mentally ill. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of theAmerican Psychiatric Association and co-founder of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. 

Dr. Lise Van Susteren, a practicing general and forensic psychiatrist in Washington, DC, is an expert on the physical and mental health effects of climate change. In 2011 she co-authored "The Psychological Effects of Climate Warming on the U.S. - Why the US Mental Health System Is Not Prepared". Dr. Van Susteren has served as a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University and has been a consultant to the Executive Branch of the US Government profiling world leaders. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Paris, she practiced medicine in West Africa, at community health centers and homeless shelters in metropolitan Washington DC.  In addition to community organizing on climate issues, Dr. Van Susteren serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Earth Day Network, and is co-founder of "Climate Psychiatry Alliance," a professional group dedicated to promoting awareness and action on climate from a mental health perspective.  She is a frequent contributor on television, radio and in the print media. In 2006 Dr. Van Susteren sought the Democratic nomination for the US Senate from Maryland. Recently she founded "Lucky Planet Foods" - a company providing plant based, low carbon foods. Dr. Van Susteren was among the proud "first 50" to be trained by Vice President Al Gore at the Climate Project In Nashville. 

Originally licensed and in successful private practice in California, Michelle Longino was licensed as an LMFT in Louisiana in 2002, when she moved to NOLA. She has over fifteen years of clinical experience working with individual adults, families, and couples. Her treatment orientation is based on sound research and includes cognitive-behavioral, experiential, mindfulness, and training in couples' work. She enjoys helping clients recognize their strengths and develop healthy skills to cope with life's challenges. She is skilled at treating a variety of issues including: anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and anger management.  Michelle talks in depth about her approach to family therapy. 

Cassie Becerra has worked as an Early Childhood Educator for 17 years.  She worked with children from 12 months-6 years in a classroom setting until 2010.  From 2010 until 2015 she cared for two boys; one who was 18 months and the other who was born four months later.  Cassie worked closely with this family as a nanny until both boys began elementary school.  At that point she returned to a school setting and  is currently the Director at Kinder Haus Montessori.   After working with many children of varying ages over the years she began making a correlation between the behaviors of children in response to how their caregivers spoke to them; recognizing that specific wording could easily trigger a defensive or oppositional response in children unintentionally.  She reached the conclusion that it was essential for the adult to first look within themselves to address  their own mood, temperament and body language before a healthy connection could be made and maintained.   After a time of self-reflection Cassie began making a connection with symptoms of anxiety that stemmed from mental scripts she had learned as a child; this is where her passion was born.  She is committed to helping  other early childhood educators, parents and children maintain positive and healthy relationships. She is specifically drawn to help children foster healthy connections with peers and adults by offering scripts that they can grow into adulthood with; scripts that ultimately become their inner voice.

Nicole Young graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2007 and immediately began work on the Obama Presidential Campaign. After 2008, she lived in Washington, DC for four years working at the U.S. Department of Education and the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. Before coming to BECNO, Young served as the Associate Director for Social Justice at the College Board where she worked to evaluate, support, and expand the College Board’s work for students of color. Young received her Master’s Degree in Education Policy at The University of Pennsylvania.   After receiving her doctorate in American Literature at NYU in 2009, Jessie Morgan-Owens served as an Assistant Professor of English at Nanyang Technological University of Singapore. In 2012, Morgan-Owens returned to the US, and joined the Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College. Of the thirty recipients of the Dean's Award at NYU, Morgan-Owens was one of two graduate students chosen to join the research community at the Humanities Initiative. Her current book project Another Ida May illuminates the influence of photography in the anti-slavery campaignby focusing on a daguerreotype of one seven-year-old girl. Originally from Louisiana, Morgan-Owens moved to New York in 2000, after earning her BA in Photojournalism at Loyola New Orleans, to begin a career in magazines at Travel + Leisure. She continues to shoot professionally with her team Morgan & Owens.

Chief Executive Officer Else Pedersen has worked for Bridge House / Grace House since 1992. Else is a Licensed Addiction Counselor and holds a Masters of Business Administration. Else became the Chief Executive Officer of Bridge House / Grace House on September 15, 2011. Prior to that date, she was the Executive Director of Bridge House since 2004. Else has extensive knowledge of the inner workings of Bridge House in that she has worked in many departments before becoming the Executive Director, in particular the Clinical Department as a direct provider of services. Else is responsible for the overall management of the organization. Her responsibilities include the development and implementation of all clinical programs and supporting businesses; ensuring clinical program and business objectives are met; and directing and supervising staff.

Janet Lewis, MD is a general psychiatrist in private practice in the Finger Lakes region of New York State and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. With academic work focused on psychodynamic and spiritual issues, she has been published in the Southern Medical Journal, Depression and Stress, The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, The Journal of Integral Theory and Practice, and The Journal of Unified Psychotherapy and Clinical Science. She is a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry’s Committee on Climate, a founding member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance and founding member of the Ithaca Therapists’ Climate Group, a study /support /supervision group for therapists around issues related to climate.

Dr. Cabán-Alemán is a board-certified community psychiatrist and professor in the college of medicine of Florida International University (FIU) of Miami, FL. She is the medical director for behavioral health of Student Health Services at FIU and board member of CrearConSalud, Inc., a non-profit addressing mental health education in Puerto Rico. She is a member of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, the Climate Psychiatry Alliance and the American Psychiatric Association. She serves as APA Representative to Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health andcouncilor of the APA Hispanic Caucus. She participated in the DSM-5 Task Force as an advisor for the Sleep-Wake Disorders Workgroup. She is a graduate of the public psychiatry fellowship at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. Area(s) of Interest: targeting systemic and social determinants of mental health, systems-based practices, cultural humility, population-based collaborative care, advocacy for underserved psychiatric patients, climate psychiatry and the relationship between poverty, social inequality and mental health.

Dr. Maestri is a board certified psychiatric clinical pharmacy specialist (BCPP) serving as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Xavier University of Louisiana College of Pharmacy.  As part of his role, he attends daily rounds in the UMC Behavioral Health Units, working in collaboration with the LSUHSC psychiatry team to provide optimized care to patients with psychotic, mood, and substance use disorders.  He also provides both experiential and didactic learning opportunities to Xavier Pharmacy students in psychopharmacology, substance use, and ethical principles in pharmacy.  His current research interests include improved medication adherence with long-acting injectable antipsychotics, health disparities in antipsychotic prescribing patterns, and the relationship between opioid use and PTSD.

Neuropsychoanalysis is the latest and most exciting revolution in psychoanalysis where the classical psychoanalytic constructs of theory of mind, subconscious, transference and other, are finding their neural correlates. Join us for the interesting show with Dr. W. Scott Griffies M.D., DFAPA. Dr. Griffies is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry with Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Medical Director of the Psychosomatic Medicine service at Duke Raleigh Hospital. He is boarded in General Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and is certified in psychoanalysis from the New Orleans Psychoanalytic Institute. He recently relocated to Duke from New Orleans where he was faculty at LSU Department of Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship for over 15 years. His main academic and clinical interest has been in the treatment and understanding of psychosomatic patients. While at LSU, he won numerous teaching awards and worked and directed services predominantly focused on psychiatric aspects of medical and surgical patients. He also served as the LSU Psychiatry Residency Director for 8 years through Hurricane Katrina. His most recent publication was “Non-mentalizing and Non-symbolizing Psychic Functions and Central Sensitization in Psychosomatic Patients”in From Soma to Symbol: Psychosomatic Conditions and Transformative Experiences, edited by Phyllis Sloate.  

Stuart Gitlow, M.D., MPH, MBA, DFAPA, Dr. Gitlow, Past President of the ASAM Board of Directors, is the Executive Director of the Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease, which he started in 2005 to ensure medical student access to training that stimulates them to develop and maintain interest in working with patients with addiction. He served as Chair of the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health and serves as ASAM’s delegate to the AMA. Board certified in general, addiction, and forensic psychiatry, Dr. Gitlow has an active private practice.Graduate of MIT and Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Dr. Gitlow’s psychiatric and public health training took place in Pittsburgh, following which he went to Harvard for his forensic fellowship. Dr. Gitlow formerly produced both Health Channel and ABC programming for America Online. On this show, Dr. Gitlow explains important topics related to addiction, risks, solutions, the opioid crises, medical marijuana, and what may be coming in addiction medicine in the future.   

Dr. Kathy Farah is a Integrative Family  Physican with a primary practice in Western Wisconsin for over 25 years. She believes in empowering patients to improve their health by optimizing their nutrition, exercise and relationships . Dr Farah provides Integrative Consults at Children's Hospital and Clinics in Minneapolis MN. She is a Senior Faculty for the Center for Mind Body Medicine for US and global programs. In the last 6 years,  she has been part of the initiative to share Mind Body skills with Native American communities in Minnesota and South Dakota. The most recent program has been at the Little Wound School on Pine Ridge Reservation in response to the suicide epidemic. Teachers counselors and students from 7 Tribal Schools attended the training and are leading Mind Body groups that also incorporate indigenous wisdom. Donna LaChapelle is an Indian women. She is very proud to belong to a Nation of people who practice and live with a Cultural life way. Her love for her people brought her to the Center of Mind-Body Medicine. The transformation in her personal experience with CMBM was key for her, and she wanted to bring this work forward into Indian Country, as she believed it to be very important. Her people are a people rich in language, songs and ceremonies. They are healing from the depths of historical trauma and great loss. She believes the MBM work addresses the gaps of personal healing that many of her people find missing in their lives and cannot find in the systems that are offered in the greater society.

In Drug Dealer M.D., Dr. Lembke masterfully uncovers the unseen forces driving the opioid addiction epidemic in the US.  Dr. Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine. She completed a residency in Psychiatry, and a fellowship in mood disorders, both at Stanford, and is currently Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, chapters, and commentaries, and is author of the book: Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins University Press, November 2016).

Veronique Robins-Brown, M.D., is a psychiatrist in private practice, integrating yoga, mindfulness, nutrition, and psychotherapy into her work with patients. Dr. Robins-Brown is Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Tulane, where she facilitates two courses for residents: Integrative Psychiatry and Personal Wellness. Dr. Robins-Brown has deep interest in mindfulness, natural healing techniques, and integrative medicine. She has always been driven by her desire to heal people—and to do so as naturally as possible—constantly exploring new ways to help people heal themselves. During residency Dr. Robins-Brown became a Registered Yoga Teacher and taught yoga to hundreds of psychiatric patients on inpatient units and at the Veteran’s Administration’s Intensive Outpatient program for Substance Abuse in New Orleans. After finishing her psychiatry residency at Tulane University, Dr. Robins-Brown embarked upon a journey across much of the United States and parts of India searching for insights into integrative medicine, especially as it pertains to mental health. During her journey, she met and learned from physicians, psychologists, yoga teachers, naturopathic doctors, and other healers. While in India, Dr. Robins-Brown studied at the National Institute for Mental Health and Neuroscience (NIMHANS), an allopathic hospital researching yoga in mental health disorders, in Bangalore, where she was honored to teach staff, faculty and patients yoga. www.soulfulpsychiatry.com 

Psychosomatic conditions include fibromyalgia and other chronic functional pain conditions. These are traditionally hard to treat. In this show, neuropsychoanalysis offers a fresh, effective, and interesting approach to address mind and body.    W. Scott Griffies M.D., DFAPA, is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry with Duke Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Medical Director of the Psychosomatic Medicine service at Duke Raleigh Hospital. He is boarded in General Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and is certified in psychoanalysis from the New Orleans Psychoanalytic Institute. He recently relocated to Duke from New Orleans where he was faculty at LSU Department of Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine Fellowship for over 15 years. His main academic and clinical interest has been in the treatment and understanding of psychosomatic patients. While at LSU, he won numerous teaching awards and worked and directed services predominantly focused on psychiatric aspects of medical and surgical patients. He also served as the LSU Psychiatry Residency Director for 8 years through Hurricane Katrina. His most recent publication was “Non-mentalizing and Non-symbolizing Psychic Functions and Central Sensitization in Psychosomatic Patients”in From Soma to Symbol: Psychosomatic Conditions and Transformative Experiences, edited by Phyllis Sloate.  

Bastion, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is an intentionally designed neighborhood in New Orleans for returning warriors and families with lifelong rehabilitative needs. Through our powerful community model that empowers neighbors as volunteers in a warrior’s care plan, Bastion sustains a thriving recovery from the wounds and casualties of war. Dylan Tête is the Executive Director and founder of Bastion Community of Resilience. He earned a Bachelors of Science in Economics and Systems Engineering at West Point, as well as an MPH at the LSU School of Public Health. During a combat tour in Iraq as second-in- command of an Infantry company, Dylan established multiple recovery projects in collaboration with the Department of State. He moved to New Orleans in 2005 where he managed the construction of several FEMA housing facilities after Hurricane Katrina. Before his most recent position as a civil servant working alongside the New Orleans Deputy Mayor of Public Safety, Dylan was hired by Military.com to assist transitioning military personnel and wounded warriors begin new careers in the civilian workforce. Dylan was selected into the Propeller Social Venture Accelerator in 2010, and awarded a fellowship with The Mission Continues for the creation of Bastion. Jeremy Brewer holds a Masters of Social Work with a certificate in Disaster Mental Health and Trauma Studies from Tulane University. He is a Marine Corps infantry veteran with two tours to Iraq. His recent roles include Veterans Program Coordinater at SBP, Program Manager at VetLaunch, and, most recently, as Wounded Warrior Project’s first Outreach Coordinator in New Orleans where he covered Louisiana and Mississippi. Jeremy is also an alumni of The Mission Continues Fellowship Program and a past commander of New Orleans last activeVFW. He lives with his wife, Melissa, and their three daughters.   Katie Bouchillon is an Occupational Therapist and Owner of Spero Rehab, an outpatient brain injury facility in Houston, Texas. Katie has an extensive background working with this amazing population and comes from a long line of military family members. Her passion is community reintegration and ensuring that everyone is given the support that they need to thrive. Katie earned her Master of Occupational Therapy degree from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in 2005 and has been working on this passion ever since. In order to meet the needs of the individuals she serves, Katie has been certified as an Assistive Technology Professional, a Certified Kinesiotape Practitioner, has earned her Mastery Certification in Manual Therapy, and she has been designated a Certified Brain Injury Specialist by the Brain Injury Association of America. http://joinbastion.org

William Arendell, LCSW   William Arendell started working with children with Attention Deficit Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder using neurofeedback and biofeedback in 1996 at the Institute for Neurobiofeedback and Barclay Family Care in Michigan. Will developed a reputation for being able to work with clinically challenging children, many with severe emotional problems, and adults experiencing difficulties with insomnia, depression and stress. While working as a social worker for the Open Door in downtown Detroit he worked with homeless who were afflicted with addiction. Will conducted a study with Oakland University and the Institute for Inner Resources which was the first to use neurofeedback to treat those afflicted with heroin and crack addiction. He completed his masters in Social Work at Arizona State University. Will worked at Women's Hope, an addiction treatment center for women in Boston, and conducted stress reduction workshops for hospitals and mental health workers. Will is the former the Clinical Director of Bridge House one of the largest residential treatment centers in Louisiana. In private practice, works with children with severe behavioral problems alongside teachers and adults having difficulties with anxiety, addictions and sleep.   Will also conducts training for beginners and advanced students who want to learn stage hypnosis. To learn more about Mr. Arendell’s work, visit http://www.arenhealth.com John Antonucci, M.Ed., LAC, P-LPC, NCC Mr. Antonucci is passionate about helping people with the biological brain disease of addiction; and pursuing social justice issues surrounding public policy and addiction. Mr. Antonucci has a M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of New Orleans, and is a Licensed Addictions Counselor through the Addictions Disorders Regulatory Authority of Louisiana. He has over 8 years of multifaceted experience in addiction treatment, and extensive experience in small business management and start-up. He is an advocate and promoter of ways to achieve recovery from addictions, most recently being the first bringing the innovative and evidence based SMART recovery program from addictions to New Orleans, and Louisiana. To learn about Mr. Antonucci’s work his work visit http://www.myjourneysinrecovery.com

Andrew B. Newberg, M.D. is currently the Associate Director in Charge of Research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia. He is also a Professor in the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University and he is adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Haverford College with honors in chemistry in 1988, and then from the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine in 1993. He did his training in Internal Medicine at the Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, serving as Chief Resident in his final year. Following his internal medicine training, he completed a Fellowship in Nuclear Medicine in the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, at the University of Pennsylvania. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Nuclear Medicine. He has actively pursued a number of neuroimaging research projects which have included the study of aging and dementia, epilepsy, and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Newberg has been particularly involved in the study of mystical and religious experiences, a field referred to as “neurtheology”. He has also studied the more general mind/body relationship in both the clinical and research aspects of his career including understanding the physiological correlates of acupuncture therapy, meditation, and other types of alternative therapies. He has taught medical students, undergraduate and graduate students, as well as medical residents about stress management, spirituality and health, and the neurophysiology of religious experience. He has published over 200 peer reviewed articles and chapters on brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and mystical experiences. He is the author of the new book entitled, “How Enlightenment Changes Your Brain: The New Science of Transformation.” He is the co-author of the best selling books, “How God Changes Your Brain” (Ballantine) and, “Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief” (Ballantine). He is also a co-author of “Words Can Change Your Brain” (Hudson Street Press) and “Born to Believe: God, Science, and the Origin of Ordinary and Extraordinary Beliefs” (Free Press). And he is the author of several academic books including, “The Metaphysical Mind: Probing the Biology of Philosophical Thought”; “Principles of Neurotheology” (Ashgate); and co-author of “The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Belief” (Fortress Press). The latter book received the 2000 award for Outstanding Books in Theology and the Natural Sciences presented by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. He has also produced a 24 lecture video program entitled, “The Spiritual Brain,” for The Teaching Company. He has presented his work at scientific and religious meetings throughout the world and has appeared on Dr. Oz, Good Morning America, Nightline, 20/20, CNN, ABC World News Tonight as well as in nationally distributed movies: “What the Bleep Do We Know?”; Bill Maher’s “Religulous”; and “Awake: The Life of Yogananda.” His work has been featured in a number of media articles including in Newsweek, Time, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, London Observer, Philadelphia Inquirer, and Readers Digest. Additional information regarding books and research can be found at www.andrewnewberg.com.

Susan Blum, MD, MPH. Dr. Susan Blum has been treating, healing and preventing chronic diseases for nearly two decades. Her passion and dedication for identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic illness through the groundbreaking whole body approach known as Functional Medicine, is helping to transform our healthcare system. As the Founder and Director of Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, New York, Dr. Blum’s crusade for personalized medicine is paramount for treatment and prevention. Dr. Blum’s mission for Blum Center for Health is to facilitate a personalized healing experience by creating a partnership with her patients while providing cutting-edge Functional Medicine and teaching self-care skills for changing health habits. Through Dr. Blum’s medical practice, education efforts, writing, research, and advocacy, she empowers her patients to stop covering up symptoms in order to actually treat the underlying causes of illness, thereby combating—and most often curing—the chronic-disease epidemic. Blum Center for Health focuses on the comprehensive integration of Functional Medicine, Mind-Body Medicine, and Nutritional Medicine. Dr. Blum is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and is a member of the Medical Advisory Board for The Dr. Oz Show. She has appeared on Fox 5 News, ABC Eyewitness News, and is regularly quoted in Real Simple, Harper’s Bazaar, Redbook. Blum completed her Internal Medicine training at St-Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, her residency in Preventive Medicine at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and is Board Certified in Preventive Medicine. She received her Masters in Public Health at Columbia University, and her training in Functional Medicine from The Institute for Functional Medicine, in Gig Harbor, Washington, and is senior faculty at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. and teaches throughout the world in their training programs. In her first book, The Immune System Recovery Plan, (April 2013) Dr. Blum offers her proven four-step program, which she has used to help thousands of patients reverse their symptoms and prevent future illness. The Immune System Recovery Plan is a groundbreaking, revolutionary program that shows how anyone can cure the causes of autoimmune disease, strengthen their immune systems, and bolster their overall health. Dr. Blum lives in Armonk, NY with her husband and three sons and loves to begin her day with a hike in the mountains or a morning walk on her quiet country road. She completes her morning ritual with a 20-minute meditation and a green smoothie made with love from the contents of her garden. Dr. Blum also plans family meals in the summer based on the same homegrown vegetables. She loves experimenting in her kitchen with new recipes and with the power of herbs for their medicinal properties. She’s an expert skier and also plays golf regularly with her husband. On most evenings, Dr. Blum can be found at home drawing inspiration and support from many of the books she reads on spirituality and self-realization.

Evonne Sullivan, BA, CHRL. Specializing in yoga and mindfulness for mental wellness and addiction recovery, Evonne is living her dharma by sharing her experience, strength and hope with others.Evonne has trained with Yoga of 12-Step Recovery, LifeForce Yoga for Depression and Anxiety, The Yoga of Recovery (April 2017) and YogaFit Canada. She runs independent wellness and recovery groups, as well as teaching with The Canadian Mental Health Association, Yoga of 12-Step Recovery, The University of Western Ontario and GoodLife Fitness.In treatment centres, schools, community organizations, fitness facilities and at special events, Evonne spreads the message of health, wellness, yoga and mindfulness through practice, education and advocacy.She holds an Honours BA from the University of Guelph and a Postgraduate Certificate in HR Management from George Brown College.

Rabbi Alexis Berk has been the Rabbi of Touro Synagogue in New Orleans since 2008. Rabbi Berk graduated with Honors from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati in June of 2000. Upon ordination, Rabbi Berk was awarded two prizes for sermon oratory. Following graduation Rabbi Berk served in Nashville as Congregation Micah’s first Rabbi Educator, and later Rabbi at Vanderbilt University's Hillel, but finding she missed participating in a congregational community, she left to join the clergy team at Temple Ohabai Sholom, as Director of Congregational Enrichment. In 2011 Rabbi Berk was chosen as one of Gambit Magazine’s “40 under 40,” – forty individuals under the age of forty whose skills and accomplishments have helped make New Orleans a better place to live and work. She practices an engaged form of Judaism devoted to the cultivation of personal, communal, and world wellbeing. Rabbi Berk and her husband Bob live in Uptown New Orleans with their two young sons and their dog Russell, all of whom are frequent and welcome visitors in the office.

Dr. Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience, Director of the Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute (SCNi) and Head of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology at the University of Oxford. He is also a Fellow at Brasenose College. Dr. Foster's research mainly focuses on how environmental light is detected and processed for the regulation of circadian rhythms, how circadian rhythms are generated, and what happens when these systems break down in disease and abnormal environmental conditions. Dr. Foster Chairs the Royal Society Public Engagement Committee, The Cheltenham Science Festival and is a Trustee of the Science Museum Group. He contributes to radio, television and newspaper articles, including the BBC, NPR, the Guardian, and the He has co-written three popular science books, and is working on his fourth, including: Sleep, a very short introduction, Circadian Rhythms a very short introduction, and Rhythms of Life: the biological clock that controls the daily lives of every living thing.

Dr. Aly Cohen, MD, FACR, FABOIM, physician and author, is a board certified rheumatologist, integrative medicine specialist, and environmental health expert specializing in arthritis, immune system disorders and women’s health. Dr. Cohen received her undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Her medical training from Hahnemann University Hospital School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Cohen continued her specialist training in rheumatology and autoimmune diseases at Montefiore Hospital/Albert Einstein University Hospital in the Bronx, New York. Dr. Cohen is trained in medical acupuncture from the Helms Institute at UCLA and Environmental Medicine from Dr. Andrew Weil and the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine where she worked with Dr. Weil and his team. Dr. Cohen is the recipient of multiple awards including the Jones/Lovell Rheumatology Scholarship at the Center for Integrative Medicine in Tucson, Arizona and was voted 2016 Top Docs NJ by her medical colleagues, and was honored with the 2016 Burton L. Eichler Humanitarian Award for her work in environmental health education and curriculum. She collaborates with the Environmental Working Group (EWG.org) and is In relation to environmental health (today’s topic) she is author and co-editor of the authorative textbook in “Integrative Environmental Medicine” Weil/Oxford University Press. And is the founder of The Smart Human LLC. (TheSmartHuman.com), to educate colleagues and the community on the potential health issues from exposure to everyday chemicals. She ran the NYC marathon 2009 for The Lupus Foundation. And lives with her husband, two young sons, and many pets in Central, New Jersey. AlyCohenMD.com TheSmartHuman.com

Founder of New Orleans Acupuncture. Valerie attended Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, NM where she earned a Masters in Science in Oriental Medicine (M.S.O.M.) graduating in May 2002 with nearly 3000 hours of study and clinic. She graduated in 1997 from The Scherer Institute of Natural Healing (Taos & Santa Fe, NM) with a Diploma in Massage Therapy Degree, upon graduation from massage school she completed a 300 hour apprenticeship in Japanese style bodywork and acupuncture with Jeffery Dann Ph.D., L.Ac. in southern Colorado, by 1998 she had began the journey on her MSOM in Santa Fe, NMIn 2007 Valerie received her 200 hour Yoga Teaching Certificate from Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe and is currently working towards her 500 yoga teacher training certificate.Valerie is NCCAOM certified and CCAOM certified for clean needle technique and is licensed to practice acupuncture in the states of Louisiana and Colorado and she is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance.

Dr. Mary Aiken, Ph.D. is a forensic cyberpsychologist. Dr. Aiken specializes in the impact of technology on human behaviour, and has written extensively on issues relating to the intersection between humankind and technology – or as she describes it “where humans and technology collide”. She appears regularly on radio and television and frequently gives talks to the public and private sector on an international basis. Dr. Aiken is an Adjunct Associate Professor at University College Dublin, Geary Institute for Public Policy, and Academic Advisor (Psychology) to the European Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) at Europol, and has conducted research and training workshops with multiple global agencies, from INTERPOL to the FBI and the White House. Her research interests include cyber-security, organized cybercrime, cyberstalking, technology-facilitated human trafficking, and the rights of the child online. She the Director of the Cyberpsychology Research Network, and is a member of the advisory board of the Hague Justice Portal - a foundation for international peace, justice, and security. Her groundbreaking work inspired the CBS television series CSI: Cyber. She is based in Ireland.

Eric Casell, MD, MACP graduate of the New York School of Medicine, Dr. Cassell trained in internal medicine at Bellevue Hospital in New York City and served as the U.S. Public Health Service Fellow in infectious disease in the department of public health of Cornell University Medical College. He has been published extensively and has had numerous clinical and academic appointments, including Emeritus Professor of Public Health at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Adjunct Professor of Medicine on the Faculty of Medicine McGill University and Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital.Dr. Cassell is a celebrated author with numerous books including “The Nature of Clinical Medicine,” “Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine,” “Changing Values in Medicine,” “The Place of the Humanities in Medicine,” “Talking with Patients,” “The Healer’s Art” and “The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine.”

Robert Brian Levy Sensei is the founder and chief instructor of NOLA Aikido, where he teaches this art of peace to children and adults of all ages in metro New Orleans as well as at seminars in the US and in Europe. He holds the rank of 4th dan (black belt). A native of Louisiana, Brian Sensei has spent more than twenty years practicing aikido, primarily in Europe. He returned to New Orleans in 2007, where he first established the dojo in Bywater before moving to its present location in New Orleans’s Mid-City. In addition to Aikido practice, he has also pursued in-depth studies of qigong, daito-ryu aikijujitsu, as well as other contemplative and integrative practices. Other pursuits include languages, language revitalization, translation, theater, visual arts, and spoken word performance.

Katy Bowman, MS and Kris Kaliebe, MD. With radical, science-based health directives, Katy Bowen, MS has taken the health-and-wellness world by storm with her bold “exercise is not movement” platform. A biomechanist by training and a problem-solver at heart, she has helped thousands reduce chronic pain, increase bone density, and improve metabolic health through better movement. The founder of Nutritious Movement, Katy is the bestselling author of multiple books. Diastasis Recti (2016), Whole Body Barefoot (2015), Don’t Just Sit There (2015), Move Your DNA (2014), Alignment Matters (2013), and Every Woman’s Guide to Foot Pain Relief (2011) have been sold and translated worldwide.

Charles B. Dew teaches the history of the South and the Civil War and Reconstruction at Williams College, where he is Ephraim Williams Professor of American History. A native of St. Petersburg, Florida, he graduated from Woodberry Forest School in Virginia and Williams College prior to completing his Ph.D. degree at the Johns Hopkins University under the direction of C. Vann Woodward. He is the author of four books: Ironmaker to the Confederacy: Joseph R. Anderson and the Tredegar Iron Works; Bond of Iron: Master and Slave at Buffalo Forge; Apostles of Disunion: Southern Secession Commissioners and the Causes of the Civil War; and The Making of a Racist: A Southerner Reflects on Family, History, and the Slave Trade. Two of these books, Ironmaker to the Confederacy and Apostles of Disunion, received the Fletcher Pratt Award, given by the Civil War Roundtable of New York for the best non-fiction book on the Civil War in its year of publication. Bond of Iron was selected as a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times, was awarded the Organization of American Historians’ Elliott Rudwick Prize, and was a Finalist for the Lincoln Prize. The Making of a Racist was published in 2016 by the University of Virginia Press, and this same publisher will be bringing out a Fifteenth Anniversary Edition of Apostles of Disunion early in 2017.

Corey Walsh, LDN, RD draws upon 22 years of Dietetic experience, both in medical and psychiatric hospitals. Individual nutrition counseling, groups, and public speaking are the areas she has focused on since 2006.Corey is an expert in helping individuals create a bridge between their nutritional health and their emotional health. Individuals struggling with Obesity, Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, Diabetes Mellitus, and chronic dieting find Corey to be insightful and on target with their troubles. She is nurturing, positive, and supportive, which allows people of all ages and sex, to feel safe and comfortable to delve into some of their most painful issues. Corey is as easily relate-able to a 13 year old young woman struggling with dieting and body image issues, as to a 39 year old man looking to improve over all health and wellness.When it comes to weight loss, Corey is not a quick and easy diet. In all areas she educates, helping individuals strategize on new skills leading them into healthier relationships’ with food and their bodies.All foods and food groups are encouraged using moderation, balance, and variety, with a focus on portion control. She guides individuals to become more mindful with their eating to support a more intuitive life style around food and self care. Corey works closely with members of the team to create a strong support system with firm boundaries to best support the healing process. The goal is always to honor the physical, mental, and emotional self.

Michael Mithoefer, M.D., is a psychiatrist practicing in Charleston, SC, where he divides his time between clinical research and outpatient clinical practice specializing in treating posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with an emphasis on experiential methods of psychotherapy. He is a Grof-certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator and is trained in EMDR and Internal Family Systems Therapy. He and his wife, Annie Mithoefer, recently completed a MAPS-sponsored Phase II clinical trial testing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. A paper about their study was published in July 2010 in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. They are currently conducting a second trial with veterans who have PTSD resulting from service in the U.S. Armed Forces, as well as psychotherapy training programs for MAPS researchers. Dr. Mithoefer is the medical monitor for MAPS-sponsored clinical trials in Europe, the Middle East, Canada, and Colorado. Before going into psychiatry in 1995 he practiced emergency medicine for ten years, served as medical director of the Charleston County and Georgetown County Emergency Departments, and has held clinical faculty positions at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is currently board certified in Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine, and Internal Medicine. Dr. Ray Worthy, M.D., Ph.D., is clinical psychologist and psychiatrist trained at the California Institute for Integrative Studies in San Francisco CA, integrating Western psychology and Eastern philosophies. Dr. Worthy spent then last 10 years integrating Western allopathic medicine with transpersonal psychology while studying at Tulane School of Medicine. Dr. Worthy completed his psychiatry residency training at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he met Dr. Mithoefer. Shari Taylor is a somatic therapist practicing in New Orleans, LA. She uses meditation, mindfulness exercises, yoga inspired movement, and talk therapy to help clients understand the connection between the mind and body.Dr. Taylor holds a PhD in Psychology from NCU, a Master’s of Science in Nursing from the University of South Alabama, and a Post-Master’s of Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in the field of child/adolescent psychology. She is a Registered Yoga Therapist and teaches yoga both privately and in a class setting.

Dr. Rigamer is the Medical Director for Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. He is responsible for increasing access to quality health care for vulnerable populations. He is a practicing psychiatrist in the Daughters of Charity community health centers where he leads an initiative to integrate primary care and behavioral health. He directed Louisiana Spirit and other disaster relief programs for victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 he opened the first Program for All Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) in New Orleans. He was named a 2008 Healthcare Hero by New Orleans City Business magazine. Prior to joining Catholic Charities, Dr. Rigamer served the U.S. Department of State as Medical Director advising the Secretary of State on international health issues and the health needs of Foreign Service diplomats and their families. He served in U.S. Embassy posts in Europe, the former Soviet Union, and South Asia. Dr. Rigamer has held positions with Kaiser Permanente HMO and Ochsner Clinic and was a Peace Corps Volunteer Physician in Monrovia, Liberia. Dr. Rigamer is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Child Psychiatry, a Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of Physicians for a National Health Program and Alpha Omega Alpha. Dr. Rigamer received his training in psychiatry at the New York Hospital-Cornell University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He received his MPA from Harvard.

Dr. Joshua Smyth is a Professor of Biobehavioral Health and of Medicine at Penn State and Hershey Medical Center. He also serves as Associate Director of Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and as the Academic Director of the Dynamic Real-time Ecological Ambulatory Methodologies [DREAM] Initiative within the Survey Research Center at Penn State. He is a researcher, teacher, writer and mentor.Most broadly, Dr. Smyth’s research reflects the application of the biopsychosocial model to meaningful health-related processes, contexts, and outcomes. Three more narrowly defined areas – and the integration between them – comprise the bulk of his research program:1. What are the effects of experiencing stress or trauma on psychological and physical well-being and how can such effects be observed?2. Can stress, affect, and health be assessed in a manner that permits the understanding of biopsychosocial processes in real time and in context?3. Can psychological interventions improve health and well-being, both in healthy individuals and individuals with existing physical or psychiatric illness?Having published about 200 articles and chapters in both medical and psychological journals and books, Dr. Smyth has made important contributions to the understanding of stress and coping, psychological interventions (most notably expressive writing), pain, immune disorders, chronic illness, eating behaviors, and ambulatory naturalistic monitoring (e.g., ecological momentary assessment, or EMA). He has served as an editorial referee for more than four dozen journals, and is an active member of the American Psychosomatic Society, the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and the Society for Ambulatory Assessment.Dr. Smyth has widely shared his research in interviews with ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, PBS, Newsweek, Time and the New York Times, among many others. Finally, he is an active and engaged teacher, and has received numerous accolades and awards for teaching and mentoring of students and trainees.Dr. Smyth received his Ph.D. in Health and Social Psychology from Stony Brook University and his B.A. in Cognitive Science from Vassar College.

Cynthia Sue Larson, MBA, DD, "The Quantum Optimist," is the best-selling author of Quantum Jumps: An Extraordinary Science of Happiness and Prosperity, who is endorsed by Dr. Larry Dossey, Fred Alan Wolf, and Stanley Krippner. Cynthia is an intuitive life coach who helps people find love, meaning and prosperity by visualizing and accessing new worlds of possibility. She has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, an MBA degree, a Doctor of Divinity, and a black belt in Kuk Sool Won. Cynthia hosts "Living the Quantum Dream" on the DreamVisions7 radio network, and has been featured in numerous shows including the History Channel, Coast to Coast AM, and BBC. Cynthia Sue Larson's newest book, "Quantum Jumps," describes the science of instantaneous transformation emerging from the convergence of recent research findings in Physics, Biology, and Psychology. Cynthia reminds us to ask in every situation, "How good can it get?"

Thanksgiving and Gratitude, Special Program by Jose Calderon-Abbo

Residency Training In Psychiatry with Sofia Zarertsky, MD by Jose Calderon-Abbo

Since his graduation from law school, Mr. Katner started his own law firm and was director of the Trial Advocacy program at Tulane. In private practice, he worked as an indigent defender, and has handled general civil and criminal cases including several death penalty cases. He is currently on the Board of the National Association of Counsel for Children, and on the Board of the Children's Bureau; he has served on the Board of Directors of the New Orleans Legal Assistance Corporation, and the Jefferson Parish Juvenile Services Advisory Board. He is the faculty founder of the Tulane University Vietnamese Association, of Tulane's Collegiate Organization for AIDS Prevention, and Tulane's student chapter of the National Association of Counsel for Children. He has served as legal advisor to the Louisiana Children's Code Project and Covenant House in New Orleans. He sits as an ad hoc judge in Orleans Parish Juvenile Court. He is director of the Juvenile Law Clinic, and he has taught Trial Advocacy, Legal Profession, Advanced Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and Introduction to Forensic Child Psychiatry at the Medical School. His publications may be found in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, the University of Texas' American Journal of Criminal Law, the Criminal Law Bulletin, the Michigan Child Welfare Law Journal, and the Tulane Law Review.

Daniel Tapia is a life-long resident of Uptown New Orleans. When he was 11 he started working to support himself and his family, and like many others in his community, selling drugs was one of the few opportunities he had to make money. In 2005 he was wrongfully convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to life without the possiblity of parole. Prior to his transfer to a state correctional facility he survived Hurricaine Katrina and the subsequent flooding while in the custody of Orleans Parish Prison. As is the case for many people in prison serving life without parole sentences Daniel did not have access to educational programming, but he never gave up. Finally the opportunity presented itself and he began studying business management through independent and long distance studies at Louisiana State University where he maintained a 3.0 grade point average. He also completed a certification program through Penn Foster Career School for automobile repair. After years of appeals, Daniel was finally offered a new trial, and after 12 years in prison was finally relased. When he first came home, he was rejected from numerous jobs and housing opportunities because of his felony record. However, just as he did with his education in prison, and his pursuit of a new trial, he never gave up. In the year after his release Daniel secured gainful employment, a stable place to live, he is a father, and he is Lead Mentor at RisingFoundations - where he is able to pursue his passion of guiding other men and women in changing themselves, their communities, and the circumstances around them. Marcus M. Kondkar joined the Loyola Sociology Department in 2000 and now serves as Chair. His teaching and research interests include criminology, sociology of law, and sociological theory.He has published his work in the American Journal of Public Health, Legal Systems of the World, Social Justice, and The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe. He is currently conducting research on three grant-funded projects: one on prisoner reentry best practices (USDOJ), a second on youth mentoring and gun violence (USDOJ), and a third on prison sentencing patterns in Louisiana (Vital Projects Fund). Other recent projects have included a geospatial study of the relationship between incarceration and neighborhood violence, and a study on sexual coercion and partner violence among college students.Since coming to Loyola Dr. Kondkar has received the University Senate Excellence in Teaching Award and the Marquette Research Fellowship. He has also served as Chair of Women’s Studies.We will be discussing the effect of what Dr. Kondkar calls the “corrections turnstile” - neighborhood turnover due to incarceration and reentry - on homicide patterns in New Orleans neighborhoods. Using geo-coded homicide data and residential addresses for every corrections admission and release from 2000 to 2015, Dr. Kondkar has demonstrated the very strong relationship between correctional turnover and violence, particularly homicide. In addition to the documented destabilizing effects on family bonds and community networks, elevated turnover rates foster continuous, often violent, contests for power at the neighborhood level. What he has found undermines the claims that high incarceration rates reduce violent crime and may actually suggest the opposite.

The Honorable Calvin Johnson, retired Chief Judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court established the first Mental Health Treatment Court in the State of Louisiana in 2002. By 2005, this Special Court was selected as one of four demonstration courts in the Country. Prior to establishing the first Mental Health Treatment Court, Judge Johnson served as Drug Court Judge from 1994 until 2002. Judge Johnson received his undergraduate degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge in 1969, served four years in the United Stated Air Force, and then received his Jurisdoctorate from Loyola Law School in 1978. He was Professor of Law at Loyola Law School for nine years and Judge of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court for seventeen years. He has received many awards in recognition of his commitment to working with individuals involved in the criminal justice system through every aspect of their recovery, including job readiness, housing stability, and community service projects. He is the recipient of the La. Supreme Court Justice Albert Tate Award for Judicial Excellence, the Louis A. Martinet Award for Judicial Excellence, the ACLU Ben Smith Award for Community Service, the Loyola Law School Alumni of the year award, the Children’s Bureau of New Orleans Hero award, the Juvenile Justice for Youth Award, the Louisiana Bar Association Presidents Award and the Crime Stoppers Award. Judge Johnson is a Board Member of The Youth Empowerment Project, Liberty's Kitchen and Children's Bureau.

Carol Miles MSW, LCSW is a clinical social worker specializing in individual and family psychotherapy, and maintains a private practice in Covington and New Orleans, LA. With over 30 years experience as a clinician, and a graduate of LSU School of Social Work specializing in clinical social work, she is currently serving as private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. Among her areas of expertise are working with clients who have eating disorders and trauma. Carol often has presented at state wide conferences and to general audiences on topics ranging from eating disorders, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills , Training (DBT Skills), assertiveness, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EDMR) and developing a private practice. Carol is a certified EMDR therapist, an EMDRIA Approved Consultant and EMDRIA Approved Basic Trainer. She also is also an adjunct professor at the Tulane School of Social Work, teaching cinical social work to the next generation of social workers. Carol is a practical, interactive, solution-focused therapist. Her treatment approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help clients resolve current problems and long-standing patterns. She incorporates a blend of conventional and alternative approaches, drawing upon a variety of styles and techniques to incorporate what will be most helpful for each client. She offers a DBT Skills Group by semester, working with a variety of diagnoses and problems. With sensitivity and compassion, she works with each client to help them build on their strengths to identify and achieve life goals. Often the past can effect the present and her expertise in EMDR Therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) helps the client to achieve a new adaptive way of feeling, acting and being in his or her world today. As the co-coordinator of the EMDRIA Regional Meetings in Southeast Louisiana, she has helped to bring a higher level of expertise to the region in dealing with trauma. Carol Miles and Associates also works with national EMDR advanced trainers to come to Louisiana to present on intense work with anger, dissociation, attachment issues and other mental health concerns to develop the skills of the therapists in our communities in this region. As a Basic Trainer of EMDR Therapy, Carol works with Tulane University School of Social Work in the Center for Life Long Learning to teach therapists about this exciting efficient and effective type of psychotherapy.

Jenni has been involved in the field of Early Childhood Education and Development from many angles. Beginning in the classroom as a preschool teacher, Jenni moved into advocacy work as a Parent Counselor at Child Care Resources of Agenda For Children helping parents find quality child care and training teachers of young children through the Positive Steps program. Jenni has also served on the Board of the Greater New Orleans Association for the Education of Young Children and was on the Anti-Bias Education Leadership Project team. After starting a family and a return to the classroom, Jenni joined the staff at the Parenting Center. As a Parent Educator, Jenni talks to parents about issues such as early learning, development, setting limits, aggression, separation, dealing with divorce, and more. Jenni has two children, Reina, 20, and Haley, 18.

Janell Kalifey is a licensed clinical social worker with 20 years of experience in the mental health field. Her clients are mainly adults and young adults with depression, anxiety, addictions, grief/loss, sexuality issues, relationship problems and stress. She is also suited to work with clients who are experiencing sports performance and physical health challenges, and those looking to restore balance in their lives following transitions. She is experienced in short-term solution-based therapy and long-term insight-oriented therapy. Her approach is eclectic psychodynamic and explores subconscious conflicts that can stifle happiness. She maintains a holistic understanding of her clients and utilizes mind-body interventions such as meditation to facilitate healing and personal growth. She has specialized training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and holds an Associate Faculty position at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center. She is also a member of the Association of Applied Sports Psychology and has an interest in combining physical exercise and mental training to enhance performance and wellness goals.

Dr. McConville completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry at Tulane University School of Medicine. He also completed his Fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at Tulane. Dr. McConville is board certified in Psychiatry and works at Tulane Hospital and Clinic, Southeastern Louisiana Hospital, Eastern Louisiana Mental Health System, St. Charles Parish Hospital, and the Medical Center of Louisiana, New Orleans. He supervises and teaches Psychiatry residents and medical students on the Consultation/Liaison Service at Tulane Hospital and Clinic and on the Psychiatric inpatient unit at Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville, Louisiana. Jenna Rosen, Psy.D. serves former Players referred from The Trust to Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine (TISM) as TISM’s Director of Mental Health and Follow Up Care. Dr. Rosen is a licensed clinical psychologist at TISM and oversees the emotional wellness and follow up components of the Tulane Brain and Body Assessment Program. She has experience providing comprehensive clinical assessments, treatment planning and coordination, and transition and family counseling to athletes and their families. Dr. Rosen specializes in individual, couples, and family psychotherapy for a variety of concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues, parenting, life transitions, and goal achievement. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University School of Medicine. She earned a bachelor's degree from Tulane University, a master’s degree in School Psychology and a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Pace University in New York City. Dr. Rosen completed an internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Tulane University School of Medicine and a fellowship in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the New Orleans-Birmingham Psychoanalytic Center.

Dallas has been working with children, adolescents, and adults in the mental health field for 30+ years. In 2000, while living In Maine, he began looking for large muscle exercise that would not stress his limbs and joints and that he could do in the winter. He found yoga and began what has become a regular practice. Through this practice, he also began to realize the impact of yoga on his own body, mind, and spirit and that how he approached his life was the same both on and off the mat. He learned he could practice and experiment with life changes by first practicing them on the mat. In 2011, Dallas became a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200 hour level by the Yoga Alliance. During his mental health career, he became increasingly interested in complex trauma and its impact on people’s lives. He completed the Trauma Center’s 40-hour Trauma-Sensitive Yoga course in 2013 and then followed up the next year with the Trauma Center’s certification process, completing that in April of 2015. Since February 2015, he teaches 4 groups sessions of Trauma-Sensitive Yoga a week at the Menninger Clinic in Houston, Texas . He also offers Trauma-Sensitive Yoga classes to individuals there as well. He is open to providing ongoing TSY groups and individual sessions in other venues.

Dr. Weiss is a psychiatrist who has a wide range of clinical interests, including caring for adolescents and young adults with emerging psychotic disorders, as well as providing psychiatric care for chronically mentally ill adults. Additionally, she is the attending psychiatrist for a school-based program offering comprehensive mental health services for children with complex behavioral and emotional disorders. Her academic interests include developing a progressive medical education curriculum in psychiatry for medical students, while teaching future physicians to develop a whole-person approach to patients. Dr. Weiss also provides supervision and teaching to psychiatry residents and child and adolescent psychiatry fellows. She maintains a strong connection to the New Orleans community and is committed to providing care for the underserved.

Dr. Kanas is an Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. For over 35 years, he conducted research on people under stress. He has over 200 professional publications and is the recipient of the Dr. J. Elliott Royer Award for academic psychiatry. Since 1970, he has studied and written about psychological and interpersonal issues affecting people living and working in space. For over 15 years, he was a NASA-funded principal investigator, doing psychological research with astronauts and cosmonauts. He is a member and former trustee of the International Academy of Astronautics. Together with Dietrich Manzey, he is the co-author of the text book entitled Space Psychology and Psychiatry (2nd ed.), which was given the 2004 International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Book Award. In 1999, Dr. Kanas received the Aerospace Medical Association Raymond F. Longacre Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in the Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Aerospace Medicine. In 2008, he received the International Academy of Astronautics Life Science Award. He continues to write and serve as a consultant on the psychosocial aspects of human space travel. His latest book on space psychology entitled Humans in Space: The Psychological Hurdles was given the 2016 International Academy of Astronautics LifeScience Book Award.

Professor Legshe has taught Tibetan studies and social work at Tulane University since 2005. He also works as a family therapist, addiction specialist and on-call crisis supervisor for RHD-Metropolitan ACT, serving people with chronic mental illness and substance abuse issues. He works as a psychotherapist in a private practice. Ngawang was ordained by HH the Dalai Lama and was a Buddhist monk for more than 20 years, receiving many gold medals at both the Seraje School, Sera Mahayana Monastic University and at Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies. He selected to study at Hampshire College and was a Kahn Buddhist fellow at Smith College. He received his MSW from Tulane in 2008 and was given the Leanne Joy Knot award for service. Professor Legshe works with the Louisiana Himalayan Association and other NGOs to support Tibetan communities and continues to teach meditation and dharma studies. His research interests are clinical applications of mindfulness, compassion and meditative practices in understanding the mind and its potentialities, coping with destructive emotions and maintaining wellness. Social justice, cross-cultural social practices and delivery of social services to refugees and underserved communities are part of his work.