James S. Gordon, MD, was the founding Dean of the School of Mind-Body Medicine and a major influence in shaping the curriculum and courses of the School. On May 29 at 5:30 PM Pacific time he will present a videoconference for the Saybrook Mind-Body Medicine community on his lifelong and still evolving relationship with meditation.
James Gordon is a Harvard educated psychiatrist, and a world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, anxiety, and psychological trauma. He is the Founder and Director of The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine at Georgetown Medical School, served as Chairman of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. He served as the first Chair of the Program Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Alternative Medicine and was a member of the Cancer Advisory Panel on Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the NIH.
Dr. Gordon has devoted over 40 years to the exploration and practice of mind-body medicine. After graduating Harvard Medical School, he was for 10 years a research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health. There he developed the first national program for runaway and homeless youth, edited the first comprehensive studies of alternative and holistic medicine, directed the Special Study on Alternative Services for President Carter’s Commission on Mental Health, and created a nationwide preceptorship program for medical students.
Dr. Gordon has explored and practiced meditation in the US and around the world (India, Brazil, and South Africa among them) for more than 40 years. In his talk, he will share the expansive and inclusive definition of meditation that he has arrived at, as well as some of the experiences that have shaped who he is and what he does. Dr. Gordon will also talk of his experience in shaping the federal government’s interest in and response to meditative practices as well as some of the challenges of getting a firmly left-brain institution—The National Institute of Mental Health where he worked for 11 years as a researcher—to explore unfamiliar and vaguely threatening territory. Dr. Gordon will also trace the arc of popular and scientific interest in the field. The talk will be informal, and hopefully, quite interactive.
Call-In Information for Videoconference: Wednesday May 29 at 5:30 PM Pacific. Call 866-283-7550 for an audio connection. Use the URL below to make the Adobe Connect videoconference connection. Enter the Adobe session as a guest, and no password will be needed.
http://connectpro97871500.adobeconnect.com/mbmvideoconferencejamesgordon/