Acclaimed Guests on “Talk With Francesca”

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Dr. Phil McGraw, perhaps the most well-known mental health professional in the world, is the host of the #1 daytime talk show Dr. Phil. Now in its 14th season, this trailblazing and award-winning show continues to provide the most comprehensive forum on mental health issues in the history of television.
 
Dr. McGraw has a unique ability to take complicated and technical information and make it accessible and understandable to the general public. Using the power of television, Dr. McGraw presents compelling stories about real people with a variety of emotional and behavioral problems, stripping away the shame and embarrassment that too often keep people from seeking help. Many viewers, for the first time in their lives, develop an understanding of problems experienced by friends, family members or themselves, and, in the comfort of their homes, experience the hope and possibility of change.
 
Dr. McGraw continues to value his academic training and professional qualifications and insists that the information provided on his show are based on evidence-based treatment options and state-of-the-art research in the fields of psychology, psychiatry and medicine.
 

 

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Dr. Alice Domar is a pioneer in the application of mind/body medicine to women’s health issues. She established the first Mind/Body Center for Women’s Health and conducts ongoing ground-breaking research in the field. Her research focuses on the relationship between stress and different women’s health conditions, and creating innovative programs to help women decrease physical and psychological symptoms.

She is the author of numerous books, a columnist for Health Magazine, on the advisory board for Parents Magazine. She is also the series editor for the new series of mind/body books by Harvard Medical Publications/Simon and Schuster. Dr. Domar has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Dateline NBC, CNN and the CBS and the NBC Evening News, to name a few.

 

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Olga Korbut

Olga Korbut, A competitor for the Soviet Union in the 1972 Olympic Games, held in Munich, Germany. A 4x gold medalist and 2x silver medalist, Korbut unleashed a new rush of excitement surrounding around the sport of gymnastics. After the games, in 1994, Sports Illustrated named her one of the 40-Greatest Athletes along with some of her fellow peers like, Muhammad Ali, Larry Bird, and Arnold Palmer. The list included mostly men, with the exception of Korbut and Secretariat the horse.

After Korbut, the emphasis in gymnastics reversed from elegance to acrobatics. Prior to 1972, women gymnasts were generally older and were not particularly expected to perform as Korbut did.

After all of her accomplishments, she was the first gymnast inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Alicia-MunnellAlicia H. Munnell is the Peter F. Drucker Professor of Management Sciences at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. She also serves as the director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

Before joining Boston College in 1997, Alicia Munnell was a member of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (1995-1997) and assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy (1993-1995). Previously, she spent 20 years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (1973-1993), where she became senior vice president and director of research in 1984.

Karyn Polito,  On November 4, 2014, Polito was elected to become Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts with running mate Governor-elect Charlie Baker. From 2001 to 2011 she was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives representing the Eleventh Worcester District – consisting of the town of Shrewsbury, and precincts 1 and 4 of the town of Westborough, both in the county of Worcester.  “Whether it’s being a mom, running a small business, whether it’s serving your local community or serving on Beacon Hill, Karyn is one of those people who knows how to build a coalition,” Charlie Baker said.

Kevin Weeks is a former mobster and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a cooperating witness. His testimony is viewed as responsible for the convictions of FBI agent John Connolly and mobster Stephen Flemmi. Since his release from prison, he has written the bestselling true crime memoir, Brutal: My Life in Whitey Bulger‘s Irish Mob. This was followed by Where’s Whitey?, which was also written with Phyllis Karas, a fictional novel using Bulger as a character. Promotion for the book started on the day the FBI stepped up its efforts to catch Bulger with an advertisement; Bulger was caught two days later

Mahzarin-Banaji-140Mahzarin Banaji taught at Yale University from 1986-2002 where she was Reuben Post Halleck Professor of Psychology. Since then and at present she is Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University and simultaneously George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Chair in Human Dynamics at the Santa Fe Institute (2011-2014). She also served as the first Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard from 2002-2008.

Banaji studies unconscious thinking and feeling as they unfold in social context. She has primarily studied social attitudes and beliefs in adults and children, relying on multiple methods including cognitive/affective behavioral measures and neuroimaging (fMRI). With these, she explores the implications of her work for questions of individual responsibility and social justice in democratic societies. Her current research interests focus on the origins of social cognition and applications of implicit cognition to improve organizational practices.

High Res PFD PhotoDr Peggy Drexler is a psychology professor at Weill Cornell Medical College, author of two books about modern families and a contributor to the Wall Street Journal, Time.comForbes.comCNN.com, Huffington Post, Psychology Today, and the Daily Beast. To find out more about Dr. Drexler please access her website www.peggydrexler.com

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is the author of 27 books on practical spirituality, including the series, Conversations with God which have sold millions of copies worldwide. His books have been translated into 35 languages, and seven have made the New York Times bestseller list. The author’s internet television program, Talk to Neale, allows his readers to interact with him regularly in person at www.CWG.tv. Walsch lives with his wife, the American poet Em Claire, in Ashland, Oregon. He may be contacted at: www.nealedonaldwalsch.com.

Francine-Shapiro-sqFrancine Shapiro, Ph.D., is the developer of EMDR, which has been so well researched that it is now recommended as an effective treatment for trauma in the Practice Guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association. She is the founder and President Emeritus of the EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs.She is a recipient of the International Sigmund Freud Award for distinguished contribution to psychotherapy presented by the City of Vienna in conjunction with the World Council, the American Psychological Association Trauma Division Award for Outstanding Contributions to Practice in Trauma Psychology, and the Distinguished Scientific Achievement in Psychology Award presented by the California Psychological Association. Dr. Shapiro has written and co-authored more than 60 articles, chapters, and books about EMDR, including her newest publication, Getting Past Your Past: Taking Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy.

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Barbara Fredrickson is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research reveals how positive emotions, fleeting as they are, can tip the scales toward a life of flourishing.

Winner of several awards for her research and teaching – including the American Psychological Association’s inaugural Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology and the Society of Experimental Social Psychology’s Career Trajectory Award – Barb created her broaden-and-build theory to describe how positive emotions evolved for our human ancestors and how, today, they vitally shape people’s health and well-being.

Her research has been featured in the New York Times Sunday Magazine, CNN, PBS, U.S. News & World Report and USA TODAY.

 

robin-e1333140197230Robin Abrahams writes the popular “Miss Conduct” social advice column for the Boston Globe Sunday magazine, and is the author of the book Miss Conduct’s Mind Over Manners, a guide to social life in 21st century America. Robin works as a researcher at Harvard Business School and has co-authored articles in the Harvard Business Review,Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal. A Cambridge resident with a PhD. in research psychology from Boston University, Robin appears frequently on other radio, television, and print venues.

dr-irving-kirsch-sqIrving Kirsch is Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at the Harvard Medical School and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hull and the University of Connecticut.  He has published 10 books and more than 200 scientific journal articles and book chapters on placebo effects, antidepressant medication, hypnosis, and suggestion.  His meta-analyses on the efficacy of antidepressants were covered extensively in the international media and influenced official guidelines for the treatment of depression in the United Kingdom.  His book, The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth, which has been published in English, French, and Japanese, was shortlisted for the prestigious Mind Book of the Year award.  It was the topic of a 5-page cover story in Newsweek, and was favorably reviewed in the New York Review of Books by Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.

dr-gary-neuman-sqM. GARY NEUMAN is a licensed psychotherapist and rabbi; he is the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller The Truth about Cheating. His newest book is Connect to Love. He was a frequent guest on “The Oprah Show,” and Oprah referred to Gary as “One of the best psychotherapists in the world…” when she invited him on her Most Memorable Guests Show which was her 5th show from her finale. Gary has made many appearances on “Today,” “Good Morning America,” “Dateline,” “The View,” “The Early Show,” NPR’s “Talk of the Nation,” “NBC Nightly News,” and “CBS Weekend News.” He and his work have also been featured inPeople, Time, O: The Oprah Magazine, Marie Claire, Redbook, Parents, Parenting,the Washington Post, Newsweek.com, the Chicago Tribune, and the Miami Herald.He is the creator of the Reconnect to Love Intensive Program, an all-day counseling program for couples.

Wes Moss is also the Chief Investment Strategist at Capital Investment Advisors (CIA).  CIA currently manages more than a billion dollars in client assets, making it one of Georgia’s largest Fee-Only investment firms, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  In 2012 he was named as one of the top 40 fee-only investment advisors (under 40) in the country by Wealth Management Magazine. In 2014, Barron’s Magazine named him as one of America’s top 1,200 Financial Advisors.

About Virginia Rutter

Author of the column, Nice Work, appearing the last Monday of every month.

2852188590_8c1161cabb_mVirginia Rutter, PhD, has been working at the intersection of academia and media for two decades: first in DC in Congress and at a mental health organization, and (during and after her phd at the University of Washington) as a sociologist translating academic ideas to general audiences. The author of two books (The Gender of Sexuality and The Love Test, both with Pepper Schwartz) and numerous articles for Psychology Today, Virginia has written on topics including divorce, marriage, gender, sexuality, stepfamilies, adolescence, infidelity, depression, women in science, psychotherapy research, couples therapy, and domestic violence. She gives talks and workshops on representations of gender in the media, and how, why, and when academics should work with the media. She has been seen and heard in the Boston GlobeThe New York Times, NPR programs, the Associated Press, the Hartford CourantDaily VarietyUSA Todaycnn.com, and various liberal and conservative radio programs. She was a co-investigator of the NIH-funded National Couples Survey and a public policy fellow at the National Academies of Science, and currently she is Professor of Sociology at Framingham State University, in Framingham, MA, a board member of the Council on Contemporary Families, and a single stepmother/widowlady. Her Girl with Pen column, Nice Work, appears the last Monday of every month.

 

stevn-southwick-125pxSteven Southwick, MD is the co-author, with Dennis S. Charney, MD, of “Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges”. He is the inaugural Greenberg Professor of Psychiatry, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Resilience at the Yale Medical School and the Yale Child Study Center, adjunct professor of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and medical director of the Clinical Neurosciences Division of the National Center for PTSD.

mark-goulstonMark Goulston  is a prominent psychiatrist and consultant to major organizations. His book, Just Listen, ranked #1 in six Amazon/Kindle categories, has been translated into 14 languages, reached #1 in Munich and Shanghai, and became the basis of a 2010 PBS special. The Consumers Research Council three times named him one of America’s Top Psychiatrists, including in 2011. For over 20 years, he has been Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute. Goulston has appeared on OprahThe Today ShowThe Phil Donahue ShowCNN, and hosted a PBS pledge drive special. His column Solve Anything with Dr. Mark is nationally syndicated by Tribune Media Services. He blogs for the Huffington Post,[9] Psychology TodayFast Company, and Business Insider, and he contributes to the Harvard Business Review.

 

 

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Christiane Northrup, M.D., is a visionary pioneer and the world’s leading authority in the field of women’s health and wellness. Dr. Northrup helps empowerwomen to tune into their innate inner wisdom to transform their health and truly flourish.

Dr. Northrup is the author of two New York Timesbest-selling books, Women’s Bodies,

Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause. In 2005, Mother-Daughter Wisdom, her third book, was voted Amazon’s #1 book of the year in both parenting and mind-body health and was nominated for a Quill Award. In her latest books,The Secret Pleasures of Menopause and The Secret Pleasures of Menopause Playbook, Dr. Northrup outlines the crucial link between health and pleasure.Dr. Northrup has been featured on theOprah Winfrey Show, the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, The View, the Rachael Ray Show,Good Morning America, ABC’s 20/20, and The Dr. Oz Show

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garland-waller-125pxGarland Waller Producer, writer and educator Garland Waller has produced a wide array of award winning local, syndicated and independent documentaries. Her awards for her work at WBZ-TV Boston include the Grand Prize at the International Film Festival of New York, an American Women in Radio and Television Award, the Iris Award for Best Entertainment, two Ohio State Awards, five New England Emmys, and two Action for Children’s Television Awards. The institute of Violence, Trauma and Abuse presented Garland with the Award for Film and Media Excellence for No Way Out But One which she co-produced with Barry Nolan(Evening Magazine, Hard Copy, Extra, Nitebeat and Backstage)

Garland is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Television and Film at Boston University School of Communication.

 

sara_lawrence_lightfoot_125pxSara Lawrence-Lightfoot, a MacArthur prize-winning sociologist, is the Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at Harvard University, where, since 1972, she has studied the culture of families, communities, and schools, and the relationships between human development and social change. She is the author of ten books, including The Third Chapter, Respect, The Essential Conversation, and Balm in Gilead, which won the 1988 Christopher Award for “literary merit and humanitarian achievement.” In 1993, she was awarded Harvard’s George Ledlie Prize for research that makes “the most valuable contribution to science” and is to “the benefit of mankind.” She is the recipient of twenty-eight honorary degrees and is the first African American woman in Harvard’s history to have an endowed professorship named in her honor.

Ernie Bodai, M.D. was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1951. He and his family lived in a bomb shelter for nearly a year, before they managed to escape during the Hungarian Revolution in 1957. Following immigration to the United States, Dr. Bodai served as Chief of Surgery, Kaiser Permanente, Sacramento for 15 years and today directs the Breast Health Center at the Kaiser Permanente Sacramento, which has been recognized, nationally as a “Center of Excellence”. He holds a number of medical device patents, is a member of numerous prestigious surgical societies and is the recipient of many national awards. After treating thousands of patients with breast cancer he became frustrated at the pace of funding for research. In a remarkable one-man lobbying effort he was able to convince Congress and the U.S. Postal Service to issue the Breast Cancer Research Stamp – the first ever stamp in U.S. history that sells at more than face value (55 cents) with the surplus amount donated directly to breast cancer research. Over 950 million stamps have been sold raising nearly $73 million for crucial research.He is currently introducing the first ever “global stamp” raising awareness and funding to conquer the disease worldwide. Together we will find a cure in the near future – that is his hope.

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Jane Isay uncovers the truth about secrets and lies in her newest book “Secrets and Lies, Surviving The Truths That Change Our Lives.”

In her book she speaks with multiple people who were either in the situation of being a secret keeper, or a secret teller. With stories ranging from spouses cheating, to secrets they find out after the person has passed away; Jane speaks with them all and uncovers almost everything. Recently, Psychology Today has featured Isay’s story on the cover (as pictured). Everyone has a secret, is yours ruining your world? Listen to Talk With Francesca’s interview to find out more.

tarapic-sqTara Brach is a leading western teacher of Buddhist meditation, emotional healing and spiritual awakening. She has practiced and taught meditation for over 35 years, with an emphasis on vipassana (mindfulness or insight)meditation. Tara is the senior teacher and founder of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. A clinical psychologist, Tara is the author of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha.Tara is nationally known for her skill in weaving western psychologicalwisdom with a range of meditative practices. Her approach emphasizes compassion for oneself and others, mindful presence and the direct realization and embodiment of natural awareness.

dan-ariely-press-photoDan Ariely 

Despite our intentions, why do we so often fail to act in our own best interest? Why do we promise to skip the chocolate cake, only to find ourselves drooling our way into temptation when the dessert tray rolls around? Why do we overvalue things that we’ve worked to put together? What are the forces that influence our behavior? Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology & Behavioral Economics at Duke University, is dedicated to answering these questions and others in order to help people live more sensible – if not rational – lives. His interests span a wide range of behaviors, and his sometimes unusual experiments are consistently interesting, amusing and informative, demonstrating profound ideas that fly in the face of common wisdom.

In addition to appointments at the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Department of Economics, and the School of Medicine at Duke University, Dan is also a founding member of the Center for Advanced Hindsight, and the author of the New York Times bestsellersPredictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty.

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Travis Roy started a foundation in 1997 called “The Travis Roy Foundation” to help spinal cord injury survivors and to fund research for a cure. Since 1997 the Travis Roy Foundation has distributed more than $2.5 million in individual grants and to research projects and rehabilitation institutions across North America.

According to The Travis Roy Foundation, The Travis Roy Foundation is uniquely positioned to touch individual lives with its focus on providing adaptive equipment and sponsoring research. In the US alone, there are approximately 250,000 people currently living with a spinal cord injury and 13,000 new injuries each year

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tom-sullivan-photo-125px3Tom Sullivan is an actor, singer, author and producer. Tom’s guest stints on television led to two Emmy nominations. A major motion picture was made of his life based on his autobiography, If You Could See What I Hear. Tom’s act of courage and determination set him on his destiny to discover and experience life beyond what he believed to initially be a disability, but he later discovered to be a blessing – blindness. To learn more about Tom Sullivan visit his website www.sullivanalive.com

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Dr. Frank Lipman is one of the country’s top pioneers in the field of integrative medicine. Focused on sustainable health and wellness, his approach is based on the science of epigenetics, which teaches us that our genes are not set in stone and we can change how they are expressed by the lifestyle choices we make. Dr. Lipman’s interest in integrative medicine began more than three decades ago, while working as a doctor in the impoverished rural areas of his native South Africa. In 1992 he founded the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center, which quickly gained a loyal following and attracts high profile patients, including Donna Karan, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, and Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Dr. Lipman is the author of two books outlining his approach to wellness: Revive: Stop Feeling Spent and Start Living Again and Total Renewal: Seven Key Steps to Resilience, Vitality, and Long-Term Health.

 

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In 1999, Dr. Marcia Angell became the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine, the premier journal of medical science in the United States. Currently serving as a senior lecturer in the department of social medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Angell has devoted her life to researching, writing and speaking on topics incorporating medical ethics, health policy, the nature of medical evidence, the interface of medicine and the law, and end-of-life care.

A board-certified pathologist, Angell joined the editorial staff of the New England Journal of Medicine in 1979. A decade later she was named executive editor. Dr. Angell has written for The New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, The Washington Post, and other national publications. In 1997 Time Magazine named her one of the twenty-five most influential Americans.

jed-150x150Dr. Jed Diamond is Founder and Director of the MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Though focused on men’s health, MenAlive is also for women who care about the health of the men in their lives. “My passion in life,” says Diamond “is to support men, and the women who love them, in eliminating the stresses that undermine their health and wreck their relationships.” Diamond’s book, MenAlive: Stop Killer Stress with Simple Energy Healing Tools, brings together the wisdom accumulated in 40 years helping more than 20,000 men, women, and children.His work has been featured in major newspapers throughout the United States including the New York TimesBoston Globe, Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He has been featured on more than 1,000 radio and T.V. programs including The View with Barbara Walters, Good Morning America, Today Show, CNN-360 with Anderson Cooper, CNN with Glenn Beck, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and To Tell the Truth.

imgres-1Marty Walz joined PPLM as its President and Chief Executive Officer in March 2013 after representing the 8th Suffolk District as a Massachusetts State Representative for 8 years.

Among her many legislative achievements, she was the lead sponsor of the 2007 law that created a 35-foot buffer zone to protect the privacy, dignity, and safety of patients and staff at reproductive health centers.

Marty holds a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and has a J.D. from New York University School of Law.

Judith Sills, Ph.d.Media psychologist, keynoter and workplace consultant, Judith Sills, Ph.D, is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Excess Baggage: Getting Out of Your Own Way, a clear guide to your own personality pitfalls and a road map for steering around those of your staff and colleagues. She is author of five other popular psychology books which have been translated into 11 languages and is a widely cited expert and nationally recognized consultant in the business of relationships.

Dr. Sills is the contributing editor for the workplace at Psychology Today, where she writes a regular column, which has been quoted in both The Wall Street Journal and the NY Times. In addition, her work has been cited in, among others, US News and World Report, Time, and The Washington Post, as well as on CNN and MSNBC. Dr. Sills is also a regular contributor to the TODAY SHOW, as well as a frequent guest expert on other national radio and television platforms.

David-YoffieDavid Yoffie, co-author of Strategy Rules, Five Timeless Lessons from Bill Gates, Andy Grove and Steve Jobs is the Max and Doris Starr Professor of International Business Administration at Harvard Business School. A member of the HBS faculty since 1981, Professor Yoffie received his Bachelor’s degree summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Brandeis University and his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford. Over the last two decades, Professor Yoffie has chaired the HBS Strategy department, the Advanced Management Program, Harvard’s Young Presidents’ Organization program, and now chairs Harvard’s World Presidents’ Organization program. From 2006-2012, he served as Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the HBS executive education programs. During his tenure, executive education revenues grew almost 75 percent, classrooms were opened in Shanghai and Mumbai, a new executive education building complex was launched, and HBS emerged the highest rated and largest business school in executive education in the world. He currently teaches competitive and corporate strategy in the Owner/President Management Program

marc-agroninMarc Agronin, M.D., a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Medical School, is a board-certified geriatric psychiatrist and the Director of Mental Health and Clinical Research at the Miami Jewish Health Systems, home to Florida’s largest nursing home.  Featuring his new book:

HOW WE AGE: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old