The John O'Donohue Symposium: To Bless the Space Between Us
Towards a Conversation of Healing for Our Wounded Earth

Dan Siegel, M.D.

Dan Siegel, M.D.

As a scientist and physician, my own mind was lit up with a spark of connection with John, ignited by our contrasts, and joined by the integration emerging in our mutual interests in exploring the nature of reality. John and I were working on a living bridge linking science and mysticism, finding common ground in the poetic study of the soul and the empirical explorations of the mind and brain. John’s insights into the nature of the invisible world, what he would call the “mystical,” resonated powerfully in new ways with the emerging science on the deep nature of reality—of our brains, our bodies, our minds, and our relationships with people and the planet. John’s work was grounded in contemplative and scholarly study and we discovered it to be consistent with rigorous cutting-edge research. His insights continue to inspire me each day, as they may do for so many, old and new to his life’s work, through John’s powerful presence on the visible page and audible recording, opening a window to awaken us to a deeper, more joyful, and meaningful life filled by the "surprise of its own unfolding."

Daniel J. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He served as a National Institute of Mental Health Research Fellow at UCLA, studying family interactions with an emphasis on how attachment experiences influence emotions, behavior, autobiographical memory, and narrative.

Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. An award-winning educator, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and recipient of several honorary fellowships. Dr. Siegel is also the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational organization, which offers online learning and in-person seminars that focus on how the development of mindsight in individuals, families, and communities can be enhanced by examining the interface of human relationships and basic biological processes. His psychotherapy practice includes children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. He serves as the Medical Director of the Lifespan Learning Institute and on the Advisory Board of the Blue School in New York City, which has built its curriculum around Dr. Siegel’s Mindsight approach.

Dr. Siegel has published extensively for the professional audience. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and the internationally acclaimed text, The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are (2nd. Ed., Guilford, 2012). This book introduces the field of interpersonal neurobiology and has been utilized by a number of clinical and research organizations worldwide. Dr. Siegel serves as the Founding Editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology which contains over sixty textbooks. The Mindful Brain: Reflection and Attunement in the Cultivation of Well-Being (Norton, 2007) explore the nature of mindful awareness as a process that harnesses the social circuitry of the brain as it promotes mental, physical, and health. The Mindful Therapist: A Clinician's Guide to Mindsight and Neural Integration (Norton, 2010), explores the application of focusing techniques for the clinician’s own development, as well as their clients' development of mindsight and neural integration. Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology: An Integrative Handbook of the Mind (Norton, 2012), explores how to apply the interpersonal neurobiology approach to developing a healthy mind, an integrated brain, and empathic relationships.

The New York Times bestseller Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human (Norton, 2016) offers a deep exploration of our mental lives as they emerge from the body and our relations to each other and the world around us. His upcoming book Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence (Tarcher/Perigee, August 2018) will provide practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life. Dr. Siegel's publications for professionals and the public have been translated into over forty languages. Dr. Siegel’s book, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation (Bantam, 2010), offers the general reader an in-depth exploration of the power of the mind to integrate the brain and promote well-being. His New York Times bestseller Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence (Tarcher/Perigee, 2018) provides practical instruction for mastering the Wheel of Awareness, a life-changing tool for cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in one's day-to-day life. Dr. Siegel's publications for professionals and the public have been translated into over 40 forty languages.

He has written five parenting books, including the three New York Times bestsellers Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain (Tarcher/Penguin, 2014); The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind (Random House, 2011) and No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind (Bantam, 2014), both with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child (Bantam, 2018) also with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D., and Parenting from the Inside Out: How a Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive (Tarcher/Penguin, 2003) with Mary Hartzell, M.Ed.

Dr. Siegel's unique ability to make complicated scientific concepts exciting and accessible has led him to be invited to address diverse local, national and international groups including mental professionals, neuroscientists, corporate leaders, educators, parents, public administrators, care providers, policy-makers, mediators, judges, and clergy. He has lectured for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Google University, and London's Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He lives in Southern California with his family.

Diane Ackerman

Diane Ackerman

Diane Ackerman writes about nature and human nature, especially the crossroads where the two meet and cast light on each other. She is the author of twenty-five works of poetry and nonfiction, including three New York Times bestsellers: "The Human Age," which received the PEN Henry David Thoreau Award; "A Natural History of the Senses," which inspired a PBS NOVA series, which she hosted; and "The Zookeeper's Wife," which received the Orion Book Award. The movie version of "The Zookeeper's Wife" appeared in 2017. "One Hundred Names for Love" was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. In her other nonfiction books, she considers how the brain becomes the mind, the natural history of love, the plight and fascination of endangered animals, deep play, the science and wonder of the garden, crisis-line counseling, becoming a pilot, and other subjects. She's also published seven collections of poetry. Her essays have appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Smithsonian, National Geographic, and many other journals.

Among her prizes and awards are the John Burroughs Nature Award, Orion Book Award, PEN Henry David Thoreau Award, Lavan Poetry Prize, Literary Lion (of the New York Public Library). She was a finalist in the Journalist in Space Project (cancelled after Challenger). She also has the somewhat unusual distinction of having a molecule named after her --dianeackerone—a sex pheromone in crocodilians. She lives in Ithaca, NY.

Ellen Wingard

Ellen Wingard

Davy Spillane

Davy Spillane

Davy Spillane's distinguished career spans decades as a Grammy-winning soloist, band leader, composer and legendary studio session player, on the Uilleann Pipes and Low Whistle. Born in Dublin in 1959 into a family of journalists and photographers, Davy received his education in the Irish language. The influence of his parent's love of mythology, poetry and American jazz music, were the seeds in his emerging development as an artist. Combined with access in his early teen years to prominent Irish musicians, these forces shaped Davy's own distinctive style. At 12, Davy began playing the Tin Whistle, shortly thereafter the Uilleann Pipes and Low Whistle. By 17, he was performing at international festivals. At age 19, Davy starred in the lead role of Joe Comerford's award-winning feature film, 'Traveller.'

Davy was a founding member of the highly successful band, Moving Hearts, receiving international acclaim for their ground-breaking fusion of rock, jazz and traditional Irish instruments. During these years, he began a long apprenticeship in the art of making Uilleann Pipes in the Dublin workshop of Johnny Bourke. Davy would go on to form a band carrying his own name, The Davy Spillane Band, touring for 10 years, continuing to stretch the musical horizon. He collaborated with Bill Whelan as a soloist on the original score of Riverdance. In 1991, Sony Music International signed Davy with appearances in Europe, the United States and Asia. His regular appearances on RTE, BBC and PBS, as well performances at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in China and at festivals around the world, brought his signature style to broadening audiences. Davy's musical compositions have been featured in numerous films including: 'Gangs of New York,' 'Michael Collins,' 'Wuthering Heights,' 'Rob Roy,' to name a few. As a highly sought-after international session musician, collaborative partners include: Van Morrison, Bryan Adams, Enya, Emmylou Harris, Paul Winter, Rory Gallagher, Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Steve Winwood, B. J. Cole, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Karl Jenkins, Mike Oldfield, Secret Garden, among many others.

Davy created his own studio, North Atlantic Music, and makes his home on the magnificent West Coast of Ireland. He joined the Irish Coast Guard in 2000, serving as a S.A.R. Boat Coxswain, in a formidable landscape and often under harrowing conditions. Davy makes and plays his own instruments exclusively on all of his recordings. In 2007, Davy received an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Hastings College (USA) in acknowledgement of his significant contributions and expertise.

Davy actively performs worldwide, composing new music and collaborating with others, as well as pursuing his own photography.

Caroline Welch

Caroline S. Welch

Caroline is CEO of Mind Your Brain, Inc. in Santa Monica, CA and co-founder with Dan Siegel of the Mindsight Institute, whose mission is to make the science of well-being accessible for professional and personal development through online and in-person programs. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School and holds a Master’s degree in Communications from the University of Southern California. Caroline was a civil litigator for over ten years, mainly representing Japanese corporate clients in intellectual property matters. She served as Vice President in Litigation at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and prior to that she was Senior Counsel at Spelling Entertainment in Los Angeles, where she supervised litigation and served as production attorney for Judge Judy. Caroline is also a mediator and has served on the Los Angeles Superior Court’s mediation panel. Prior to attending law school, Caroline taught English in Japan for three years.

Caroline provides workshops and lectures on strategies to optimize our personal and professional well-being. Her first book, The Gift of Presence: A Mindfulness Guide for Women will be published by Penguin Random House on March 17, 2020. Caroline interviewed over 100 women from around the world to explore the many roles women play, unique challenges they face in the family, workplace and larger society.

http://www.mindsightinstitute.com
http://www.carolinewelch.com

Richard Harrell

Richard Harrell

Richard Harrell has served as the Director of the Juilliard Opera Center, the Director of the San Francisco Opera Center, Artistic Advisor and Head of Faculty for the Opera Training Program of the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Director of the Opera Program for the San Francisco Conservatory, Artistic Consultant and Principal Stage Director for the Bangkok Opera and senior faculty for the Opera Studio of the Netherlands. He serves as Associate Director of the Orfeo Foundation, an international organization based in Amsterdam which supports the careers of young opera singers. Currently a professor of music at the City College of San Francisco, he also serves as the Founding Director of Heroes’ Voices, a non-profit service organization for veterans. Heroes’ Voices produces therapeutic music and poetry workshops for veterans with PTSD and other challenges.

He has directed more than 60 opera productions for companies in Europe, Asia and North America, and has been a stage director, voice teacher, and guest Master Class instructor at universities and training programs including Yale, Indiana University, Polish National Opera Studio, Chautauqua Institution, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Opera Works, Loyola University, Mannes School of Music, and the University of Florida. Mr. Harrell performed as a baritone soloist with such companies as La Scala, Vienna State Opera, Washington Opera, Baltimore Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Skylight Opera Theatre, Lincoln Center Theatre Company, Opera Omaha, New Jersey Symphony, Richmond Symphony and National Symphony. He recorded the role of Bernardo on the Deutsche Grammophon album of West Side Story and is featured on the recording of Leonard Bernstein’s last opera, A Quiet Place. A frequent judge for vocal competitions, he annually adjudicates for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and his essays on artist training and the business of opera have been published in Opera America publications.

Originally from Oklahoma, he grew up in northern Virginia, attended college in Washington, D.C. and New York City, and has lived for many years in San Francisco.

Lelia Doolan

Lelia Doolan

Lelia Doolan has spent a lifetime meandering in the realms of theatre, film, journalism and talk - as actor, producer, scribbler, campaigner - in RTÉ, the Abbey Theatre, the Irish Film Board, Burren Action Group and so on. She lives and attempts to garden in the west of Ireland.

Fr. Martin Downey

Fr. Martin Downey is the Parish Priest of St. Joseph's Church in Galway, Ireland.