12th Annual Conference Keynote Speaker
Sylvia Boorstein, Preconference and Keynote Speaker
Sylvia Boorstein, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., is a co-founding teacher of Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. A psychotherapist since 1967, she has been a frequent panelist and workshop leader at conferences of the American Psychiatric Association and has led retreats in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. She has published articles in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, is a regular columnist for the Shambala Sun and has written five books on Buddhism and meditation practice. Her most recent book, Happiness Is an Inside Job: Practicing for a Joyful Life, has been published by Ballantine Books.
Anees Sheikh, Keynote Speaker
Dr. Sheikh is professor and former chair of the Department of Psychology at Marquette University and clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Through his guided imagery workshops, he has trained thousand of health professionals around the world. Dr. Sheikh has published numerous journal articles and book chapters and 15 books on imagery and related topics, including: Imagery: Current Theory, Research, and Application; The Psychophysiology of Mental Imagery; Healing East and West; and Handbook of Therapeutic Imagery Techniques. His most recent book (with a foreword by the Dalai Lama) is Healing Images: The Role of Imagination in Health. He was the founding editor of The Journal of Mental Imagery. Dr. Sheikh is past president of the American Association for the Study of Mental Imagery and is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of imagery.