Mind Your Health: Mental Health Summit

11 am: Thinking Differently About Your Mental Health: Boosting Your Psychological Immune System
Lori Gottlieb and Anne Lamott

Bestselling authors Lori Gottlieb and Anne Lamott open our summit with an empowering keynote on how to prioritize our mental health in our homes, workplaces and communities for the long-term. Drawing from their experience as activists, therapists, teachers, and thought leaders, these compelling speakers will guide us towards understanding how we can find strength and a path towards mental health through building a robust psychological immune system. Prepare to challenge your assumptions, discover your blind spots and become more aware of how the things we do—and don’t do—impact our long-term resilience and ability to persevere.

11:15 am: Children and Covid
Shefali Tsabary, Laura Markham, Renee Jain
Moderated by Ellen Birnbaum

With schools around the country shuttered, and social distancing still in place for many, how do parents juggle work, parenting, and online schooling? From children popping up in Zoom meetings to helping children cope with their feelings about the pandemic, a panel of award-winning writers and experts offers vital perspectives.

11:40 am: Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness
Joe Kennedy and Arthur C. Evans

Dr. Arthur Evans, CEO of the American Psychological Association, will discuss mental health in this tumultuous time, and examines the importance of mental health parity with MA Congressman Joe Kennedy, a leader on mental health legislation.

11:50 am: Humankind: A Hopeful History
Rutger Bregman and Daniel H. Pink

New York Times bestselling author Rutger Bregman is joined by Daniel Pink, the author of six provocative books examining human behavior to explore the idea that the COVID-19 crisis could lead to something better and that the age of excessive individualism and competition could come to an end, inaugurating a new age of solidarity and connection.

12:20 pm: How Mindfulness Can Help Anxiety
Shauna Shapiro, Tim Desmond
Moderated by Rhonda Magee

Research has shown that mindfulness helps reduce anxiety and depression. Worrying about the future and ruminating about the past are generally unhelpful patterns, though we all do it, especially now when the future feels so uncertain. Mindfulness can help to counteract these anxiety-producing patterns and instead respond to stress with an awareness of what is happening in the present moment. In as little as a few minutes each day, mindfulness allows us to practice for more adaptive reactions to difficult situations.

12:40 pm: When to Get Help, and How
Sofia Noori, Joshua Gordon, Chloe Carmichael, Tara Haelle

The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected many people’s mental health. How can we cope with the stress, fear, and anxiety? What are the resources available to help?  This session convenes experienced experts—Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, who is the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health; Sofia Noori, MD, MPH, a psychiatry resident at Yale University; and Chloe Carmichael, PhD, a clinical psychologist practicing in Manhattan—to empower you with insights and guidance on finding effective, healthy and safe treatment options.

1:15 pm: Kelly McGonigal and Jane McGonigal: Harnessing the Power of Movement for Mental Health

Join powerhouse identical twin sisters Kelly McGonigal and Jane McGonigal for a dynamic conversation about building strength, happiness and health right now.

Kelly McGonigal, bestselling author of the books The Willpower Instinct, The Upside of Stress, and The Joy of Movement, draws on neuroscience and psychology to reveal movement’s capacity as an antidote to depression, anxiety and loneliness. She’ll provide practical advice on how to harness the power of movement to create happiness, meaning and connection during the pandemic.

Jane McGonigal—a game designer who strongly believes that games and technology can help channel positive energy and thus improve our lives—is the author of SuperBetter, an innovative guide to living gamefully, based on the program that has already helped nearly half a million people achieve remarkable personal growth.

1:30 pm: Relationships in the Pandemic
James Pawelski and Suzie Pileggi Pawelski and John and Julie Gottman

In a kind of ultimate “relationship experts double date,” married positive psychology duo James Pawelski and Suzie Pileggi Pawelski and married couples therapists and psychologists John and Julie Gottman share their expertise and guidance on navigating your closest relationship during the coronavirus crisis. The couples’ collective research-based approach to relationships—captured in their bestselling books Happy Together and The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and others—make their voices the ones we all want to hear on navigating this period’s increased togetherness. Every partnership, whether stronger than ever or showing cracks, can benefit from the perspective of four of America’s leading voices in relationship therapy—and the combined 42 years of their own two marriages.

1:50 pm: Stress, Resilience, and Personal Growth
Dr. Deborah Marin, Mount Sinai Health System
Moderated by Kate Murphy
Introduction by Rick Salomon

During a time of extraordinary events that have included a pandemic and historic protests for racial justice, our community is under more stress than ever before. Dr. Deborah Marin from the Mount Sinai Health System will share insight on how health care workers on the front line are guided to weather the challenges of a lifetime, and will suggest coping mechanisms and resilience-building techniques to help manage daily stressors and grow from stressful events.

2:05 pm: Dascha Polanco in Conversation
Moderated by Dr. Arabia Mollette

One of Hollywood’s leading Latina actresses, Dascha Polanco, shares her journey with mental health and self love, and discusses the depression and anxiety she has battled in her life.

2:25 pm: Kenneth Cole and Isiah Thomas in Conversation

Designer Kenneth Cole and NBA Hall of Famer and businessman, Isiah Thomas, will discuss mental health in a time of Covid-19 and systemic racism.