As the 2010 NASW-AK / AkCA conference approaches, we’re giving a little background coverage on our keynote speakers.

Dr. George Vaillant is a psychiatrist and Professor at Harvard Medical School whose research focuses on aging, addiction, and positive psychology. Vaillant’s work was prominently featured last summer in The Atlantic magazine.

Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition—and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study’s longtime director, George Vaillant.

A video of Dr. Vaillant accompanied the piece online:

Dr. Vaillant will be presenting three talks on Thursday, October 7th, in the Gold Room at the Fairbanks Westmark. See you there!

We’re four months away from the 2010 annual statewide NASW-AK/AkCA conference, and so we thought it might be time to give you a preview of what you’re in for, if you come.

Of our five amazing keynote speakers, the best known is probably Dr. Patch Adams. Patch’s life was the subject of the 1998 movie, Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams. (If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t worry! We’ll be hosting a free screening—look for details closer to the conference date.)

Here’s the trailer for the movie:

Patch is a medical doctor, clown, performer, and social activist. In 1971 he founded the Gesundheit Institute, a not-for-profit holistic medical care facility. Patch will speak on healing, humor, and healthcare at our conference.

For more on Patch, watch this short clip from 2000 on the film and his life:

The Patch Adams Story from Kleber Torres on Vimeo.

For a sample of Patch’s speaking and clowning, check out this clip:

In addition to speaking at our conference, Patch will be giving a free keynote speech to the public on Wednesday night, October 6th, at the Davis Concert Hall (donations welcome). We hope to see you there!