A Series on the Relationship Between Spirituality and Mental Health: Global Perspectives

For mental health professionals, counselors and clergy
 

8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Friday, May 9, 2008
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN

A day long conference providing insight into the faith experiences of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and the impact of their experiences on mental health.

Keynote Speaker

Immaculée Ilibagiza

Rwandan genocide survivor and author of Left to Tell: Discovering God Admidst the Rwandan Holocaust

Born in Rwanda, Ilibagiza’s life was transformed dramatically when the Rwandan genocide forced her and seven other women to huddle silently together in a cramped bathroom for safety for 91 days while most of her family was killed. Out of this horrific experience, she discovered the power of forgiveness and began a profound relationship with God. Four years later, she emigrated from Rwanda to the United States and began working for the United Nations.

Left to Tell has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide and has been made into a documentary. Ilibagiza’s Left to Tell Charitable Fund has raised over $150,000 for the orphans of Rwanda. She has been recognized and honored with numerous humanitarian awards, including an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Notre Dame and the 2007 Mahatma Gandhi International Award for Reconciliation and Peace. 

Conference Schedule

8 a.m.

Registration and continental breakfast
Schulze Hall 1st floor atrium

8:45 a.m.

Welcome - Father Dennis Dease, Ph.D.
President, University of St. Thomas

Invocation - The Most Rev. Harry Flynn, D.D.
Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis

9 a.m.

Immaculée Ilibagiza – Keynote Speaker
Trauma, the cross-cultural experience of forgiveness and its benefit to mental health

10:30 a.m.

Samir Parikh, M.D.
Experiences of India’s spiritualities, its impact on psychiatry, pharmacology and mental health understanding

Question and answer session

11:45 a.m.

Lunch provided

12:45 p.m.

Miriam Bronstein, LICSW
Mental health through a Jewish world perspective

Question and answer session

2 p.m.

Choi Hee An, Ph.D.
Postcolonial cultural psychology and its impacts on Korean/Korean American immigrants and the Protestant church

Question and answer session

Break

3:30 p.m.

George Stavros, Ph.D. and Cristian Onofrei, Ph.D. Cand.
Therapeutic containment: Discussions on psychotherapy and the Eastern Orthodox churches

Question and answer session

Online registration is closed, but Walk In Registration will begin at 8 a.m.

Additional Evening Program

7 p.m.

Talk by Immaculée Ilibagiza – Open to the public
Faith, Hope and Forgiveness - Click here for more information.

Questions?

Ea Porter
Program Coordinator
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
(651) 962-4657
emporter@stthomas.edu

Registration

$145 for professionals
$125 per participant for groups of three or more
$60 for students with current student ID

Immaculée Ilibagiza has sold out in previous cities! 

Faith, Hope, and Forgiveness - A Talk by Immaculée Ilibagiza

Click here for information about the evening program open to the public at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Minneapolis.

For more information:

Ea Porter
Program Coordinator
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
(651) 962-4657
emporter@stthomas.edu