*All registrants are required to select an item from the potluck list to bring*
Rationale for choosing this book
Whether we are young and “hot-to-trot” or at an advanced age of contemplation, if we are healthy, we typically enjoy life’s pleasures and put up with its vicissitudes. We live as if we can count on a “tomorrow,” also aware that (as the poet Andrew Marvel said), “Time’s winged chariot is at our heels,” and we will not live forever.
Imagine yourself receiving the shocking news that you have terminal illness and that death’s “chariot” is waiting at your door. That’s our book, first published in 2016. Dr. Paul Kalanithi, the son of physician Indian immigrants, and husband of a physician, weaves the story of his challenge battling cancer while retaining (and reflecting upon) what it means to be a son, a spouse, a sibling, a doctor, a patient and a would-be father. Based on the answer to these questions, Kalanithi seeks to balance his roles as a practicing neurosurgeon, writer, and teacher with his family’s needs in the inscrutable time left to him. Dr. Kalanithi chooses to realize a personal ambition and establish his legacy by writing this book which — because he dies before it is finished— his wife completes for him.
The narration reflects Kalanthi’s artistry as a writer— constructed with lyrical prose — it follows the trajectory of his life from childhood to death, and is laced with deep philosophical thought and the importance of meaningful relationships. His meditations combine the expertise of a professional with the experience of a patient, resulting in a book that communicates profound meaning about his life and death – and our own.
Facilitator: Deborah Shain, MSS, LCSW, BCD, is Chair of the Professional Standards and Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work. In her private practice in Elkins Park, she specializes in relationship therapy and individual treatment of adults seeking insight regarding their behavior and interactions with their families. She coaches executives, professionals, and graduate students seeking success in their work and school settings. As an adjunct professor, she taught the Clinical Skills Seminar at Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work, Crisis Intervention and Group Dynamics at Cabrini College, and at Drexel University Medical School, she teaches psychiatry residents “Human Sexuality: Interventions and Treatment for Patients With Sexual Concerns” At the Medical College of Pennsylvania, (now Drexel Medical School), Shain created and directed the Geriatrics Course, was the creator, director, and teacher of Human Sexuality, and was the Director of Programs for Academic Support in the Office of Medical Education. An educator and clinical supervisor, she authored many articles and two medical education books: Study Skills and Test-Taking Strategies for Medical Students: Find and Use Your Personal Learning Style, published by Springer-Verlag.
Clinical Goals:
By reading the book and participating in the discussion, participants will establish techniques for clients to:
- Identify and put into action day-to-day choices that represent core values consistent with life’s meaning
- Attend to moment-by-moment living in the present with intention and purpose
- Engage in opportunities for life review of important relationships with the intent to establish legacy and tie up loose ends.
This event is open to PSCSW members only. Participants who attend this program must be present for its entirety to earn 3 clinical credits.