The theme of the 14th annual Mental Health Symposium is “Paths to Positive Aging, Achieving and Fostering a Positive Mindset”. The full day training event will be held on Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at the Downtown Manchester Hotel (formerly Radisson).

With the growing population of older adults who enjoy increasing social and economic power, the willingness to accept the maladies of aging has diminished and a more positive approach to aging is invited. Research suggests that efforts to enhance physical health, emotional well-being, an active lifestyle or meaningful relationships all work in a mutually reinforcing manner with substantial positive consequences for the aging population.

This years Symposium would be of interest to people who work in the behaviorial health field or with older adults, or any individual who has an interest in learning more about positive aging. To register for this event click here.

Speakers for this program include:

Mary M. Gergen, Ph.D., is a founder, board member and treasurer/secretary of the Taos Institute and a professor emerita of psychology affiliated with the Women’s Studies Program at Penn State University, Brandywine, Media, PA. She has positioned herself at the intellectual convergence of feminist theory and postmodernist thought, as a social constructionist.

Kenneth J. Gergen, Ph.D., is a founding member, President of the Taos Institute and Chair of the Board, and the Mustin Professor of Psychology at Swarthmore College. Gergen also serves as an Honorary Professor at the University of Buenos Aires. Gergen has taught at Harvard University and Heidelberg University. He has been the recipient of two Fulbright research fellowships, the Geraldine Mao fellowship in Hong Kong, along with Fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, and the Alexander Humboldt Stiftung.

Brent P. Forester, MD, MSc, is the chief of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at McLean Hospital and medical director for Behavioral Health in the Center for Population Health Management at Partners HealthCare. Dr. Forester is an expert in geriatric psychiatry, specializing in the treatment of older adults with depression, bipolar disorder, and behavioral complications of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. He is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and has previously served on boards of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts/New Hampshire.