Moderator:

• Katie Lewis, PhD, serves as the director of research at the Austen Riggs Center. Her research examines interpersonal behaviors, personality processes, and suicidal ideation in adult psychiatric patients using experience sampling methodology. Dr. Lewis received a doctorate in clinical psychology from the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University. In the past, she has served as the graduate student representative on the Ethics Board of Division 39 and as an associate editor for the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. Her research has been supported by the Robert Wallerstein Fellowship in Psychoanalytic Research, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Division 39 Marsha McCary Fund for Psychoanalysis. She has published and presented on a wide range of topics, including suicide and self-harming behaviors, personality psychopathology and assessment, and the ethics of confidentiality in clinical writing. She currently serves as a consulting editor and section editor for the Journal of Personality Assessment.

Panelists:

• Usha Tummala-Narra, PhD,  is a professor of counseling, developmental, and educational psychology at Boston College. Her research and scholarship focus on immigration, trauma, and culturally informed psychoanalytic psychotherapy. She is also a clinical psychologist in Independent Practice and works primarily with survivors of trauma from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. Dr. Tummala-Narra is an associate editor of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and the Asian American Journal of Psychology. She is a member of the Holmes Commission on Racial Equality in American Psychoanalysis, initiated by the American Psychoanalytic Association, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Psychotherapy Action Network (PsiAN). She is the author of Psychoanalytic Theory and Cultural Competence in Psychotherapy (2016), the editor of Trauma and Racial Minority Immigrants: Turmoil, Uncertainty, and Resistance (2021), and co-author of Applying Multiculturalism: An Ecological Approach to the Multicultural Guidelines (2023), all published by the American Psychological Association Books.
• Sheldon Solomon, PhD, is a professor of psychology at Skidmore College. His studies of the effects of the uniquely human awareness of death on attitudes and behavior have been supported by the National Science Foundation and Ernest Becker Foundation, and featured in the documentary film Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality. He is co-author of In the Wake of 9/ 11: The Psychology of Terror (American Psychological Association, 2003) and The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life (Penguin Random House, 2015). Sheldon is an American Psychological Society Fellow, a recipient of an American Psychological Association Presidential Citation, a Lifetime Career Award by the International Society for Self and Identity, the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs Annual Faculty Award, and a Career Contribution Award by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
• Frank Infurna, PhD, is an associate professor in the department of psychology at Arizona State University. He received is PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. He is a developmental psychologist whose research chronicles the challenges and opportunities of middle-aged adults and investigates resilience to major life stressors. His research on midlife has documented that midlife is comprised of four defining features, namely simultaneous involvement in several roles, life transitions, opportunities, and challenges, and revealed cross-national differences in the mental and physical health of middle-aged adults. His research on resilience has made advancements in how to best conceptualize adversity and best practices for methodological approaches to studying resilience. His research program draws from lifespan developmental theory and emerging methodologies for longitudinal and event occurrence analysis; He applies these methodologies to longitudinal panel surveys, intensive assessment research designs and interventions. His research is currently supported by the National Institute on Aging and he has received funding from the John Templeton Foundation in the past.

Austen Riggs Center Inc. adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. All those at Austen Riggs Center involved in the planning of this activity, including the presenter(s) listed above, report they have no relevant financial relationships with an ineligible company*.

The views and opinions expressed in this presentation are those of the presenter(s) and do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the Austen Riggs Center.

* An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.