ISRounds: A Virtual International Mental Health Educational Series – for FREE!
World class experts share their wisdom and expertise to support the clinical work and professional development of mental health professionals in Israel and around the globe. Other medical and human service professionals are cordially invited.
ISRounds programs will be apolitical, non-commercial, and non-sectarian.
Academic Co-Sponsor: Department of Psychiatry, UMass Chan Medical School
Course Overview
The Harvard Study of Adult Development is one of the only studies in history to track the same people from adolescence into their 90s, to find out what really makes us thrive. It is the breadth and depth of our relationships with other people that is the key to wellbeing as we age – not just happiness, but physical health as well. Loneliness, on the other hand, is toxic, and the Harvard Study demonstrates that material things make us less happy than experiences.
In this powerful conversation, Professor Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study, and Shira Lankin Sheps, author and Executive Director of The SHVILLI Center, will consider the findings of the Study as a launch point for engaging in a spirited discussion about the personal, interpersonal and communal effects of the current situation in Israel, a society where stress, worry and constant threats to wellbeing coexist with an intense degree of community and interpersonal connectedness. To what extent do ongoing, powerful, shared communal experiences inoculate Israelis from the cultural pathologies that have given rise to the so-called loneliness epidemic in Western societies like the United States? Alternatively, when does “fighting the good fight” become an overwhelming problem in its own right?
See www.the-good-life-book.com, for more information.
Robert Waldinger, MD
Robert Waldinger is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and cofounder of the Lifespan Research Foundation. Dr. Waldinger received his AB from Harvard College and his MD from Harvard Medical School. He is a practicing psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, and he directs a psychotherapy teaching program for Harvard psychiatry residents. He is also a Zen master (Roshi) and teaches meditation in New England and around the world.
Waldinger is the author of numerous scientific papers and two highly-regarded professional books: one on the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder and one on teaching psychiatry to medical students. He has won awards for teaching and research from the American Psychiatric Association, Harvard Medical School, and Massachusetts Psychiatric Society.
His TED talk on lessons from the Harvard happiness study has had over 48 million views and is the fastest spreading talk in the history of TEDx events.
Discussion Host: Shira Lankin Sheps, MSW
Shira Lankin Sheps, MSW is a writer, editor, workshop facilitator, and clinically-trained therapist. She founded and published The Layers Project Magazine, an online magazine that explored the challenges and triumphs of the lives of Jewish women, and is the author of LAYERS: Personal Narratives of Struggle, Resilience, & Growth of Jewish Women (Toby Press, an imprint of Koren, 2021) and co-editor of "Az Nashir- We Will Sing Again; Women's Prayers for Our Time of Need" (The Layers Press, 2024). Shira’s essays and articles have been published by The Times of Israel, JTA, The Jewish Press, Kveller, The Forward, The Jewish Link, The Jerusalem Post, World Mizrachi, and of course, The Layers Project. She earned a BA in English Literature at Stern College of Yeshiva University and a Masters of Social Work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and children. Shira is currently the executive director and founder of The SHVILLI Center; Jewish Women's Stories, Spirituality, & Wellbeing, and publisher of The Layers Press.
