A is for Anxiety

How We Live "The Good Life" With Laurie Santos

This podcast is with Dean Laurie Santos. Dean Santos grew up in Massachusetts and spent her undergraduate years at Harvard University where she studied psychology and biology. After receiving the psychology Department Undergraduate Thesis Prize, she continued her studies at Harvard where she obtained a master's in Psychology with a focus on Cognition, and Brain and Behavior. She then started her work at Yale University as an assistant professor in psychology and cognitive science, while simultaneously doing her own research on the human mind. In 2014, she became head of Yale’s best residential college, Silliman. Now she continues to work with students both personally as a dean and academically as a teacher of Yale’s most popular course, “Psychology and the Good Life”, which forces students to question what truly makes people happy. She is known globally for her work and has various published journal articles as well as awards for her expertise in her field. In the spare time that she has she works on her own podcast, “The Happiness Lab,” which has charted US podcasts. In this episode, we talk about anxiety in college and the necessary skill sets to build resilience. Please enjoy!

Season Two, Episode Two: The Intersection of Anxiety and Religion with Rabbi Joy Levitt

Prior to coming to the JCC, Rabbi Joy Levitt served as a congregational rabbi on Long Island and in New Jersey for 20 years. She earned a bachelor's degree from Barnard College, followed by a master’s degree from New York University and a rabbinical degree from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Rabbi Levitt founded the Jewish Journey Project, an initiative designed to revolutionize Jewish education for children. As a lay leader, she serves on the boards of Avodah: The Jewish Corps for Service and The Shefa School, a new Jewish community day school for children with language-based learning disabilities. Joy is married to Michael Strassfeld, also a rabbi, with whom she co authored A Night of Questions: a Passover Haggadah. Together, they have five children.

Season Two, Episode One: Global Anxiety and Leaving Home With Mairead O'Grady

Mairéad O’Grady is SEGL’s Associate Head of School for External Affairs and Director of SEGL at ALA in Johannesburg, South Africa.  She has been at SEGL since 2012. Prior to joining the SEGL team, she spent just over a year in Thailand, where she worked officially as a Global Ambassador and English teacher at Payap University while unofficially leading bicycle tours and hiking trips and directing a high school musical.  She is a graduate of Grinnell College, where she majored in Music and French, receiving Honors in French and the Steiner Award for Scholarly Work in Music. While in college, she served as a residential Student Adviser and the Student Government All-Campus Events Coordinator, sang as a soprano in the Grinnell Singers, and worked as a tour guide and interviewer for the Office of Admission. Mairéad has also served as an international program leader for Walking Tree Travel (Senegal and Thailand) and SEGL (South Africa and Rwanda).

Mental Heath and Nutrition During Quarantine With Lauren Slayton

Lauren Slayton is the founder of Foodtrainers and the author of the book The Little Book of Thin. She received her undergraduate degree from Tulane University where she graduated cum laude with honors in Sociology. It was here that she first realized the challenge of balancing work and play, healthy and indulgent. She completed her Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition at New York University. Prior to opening Foodtrainers, Lauren worked at St Luke’s-Roosevelt obesity research unit and developed a nutrition program for the Equinox fitness clubs. These positions provided Lauren both clinical and counseling experience and in the fall of 2001 Lauren opened Foodtrainers. The New York Times, The Today Show, Allure, In Style, Harper’s Bazaar, O magazine, The New York Post, The Daily Show, CBS News, Good Morning America, Crains NY and many others.

Diagnosing Anxiety and Extended Time With Dr. Paul Yellin

Dr Yellin is currently the director of The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education in New York City, established in 2007. He works with children, diagnosing learning disabilities and teaching them tactics to help them learn at their best. Before starting this establishment, he worked for many years as the National Director of the Student Success Program at the All Kinds of Minds Institute. This is where he helped to develop new forms of learning assessments and personalized learning plans. He has worked with thousands of students from all over the country and is an active leader of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has touched the lives of so many students through his work and I feel so lucky to speak to him today.