A year of dialogue

My reflections on the Work, Stress, and Health Conference, May 2015, Atlanta

Positive social change is and should be measured in much more tangible ways than talk, but meaningful dialogue is often a seed planter for action and a tool for building community. In looking back at the past year, I am grateful for numerous opportunities to connect with extraordinary individuals who are engaged in projects and initiatives to bring dignity, well-being, and social justice into our workplaces, communities, and institutions.

Many of these conversations occurred at conferences, workshops, and meetings (face-to-face and virtual) in the U.S. and abroad. Here are some of the highlights, with links to earlier pieces about the respective events:

• The Work, Stress, and Health conference in Atlanta (May), co-sponsored by the American Psychological Association, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and Society for Occupational Health Psychology;
• The International Congress of Law and Mental Health in Vienna, Austria (July), sponsored by the International Academy of Law and Mental Health and hosted by Sigmund Freud University;
• The Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict in New York City (December), sponsored by the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies network and hosted by Columbia University Teachers College;
• The Annual Banquet of Americans for Democratic Action in Washington, D.C. (September);
• The Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools in Washington, D.C. (January);
• A Think Tank on bullying behaviors sponsored by the Bullying Research Network and hosted by Boston University (June); and,
• A Therapeutic Jurisprudence Workshop (September) and a Workshop on Workplace Bullying (October), hosted by the New Workplace Institute at Suffolk University Law School.

Out of these gatherings came an array of collaborations, projects, and partnerships to be shared among the participants. For me they included, among other things, the seeds for a major writing project on workplace bullying, plans for building the therapeutic jurisprudence community, and ideas for legislative advocacy to support the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill. Taken as a whole, they represented a wonderful blend of people, ideas, and commitment.

Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies workshop, December 2015, New York City