Presented by the Pastoral Care Team
As part of our ongoing care for this parish as well as the community that surrounds us, we are excited to have gathered experts in a variety of wellness fields. We hope you will be able to attend one or more, and please invite friends and family who might be interested. All presentations will take place after the 10AM Sunday service.
November 2025: Family Mental Health
November 9: Andrew Smolar, MD
Why are Young People so Anxious These Days?
In this presentation, Dr Smolar will discuss some of the current pressures on adolescents that have resulted in rising rates of anxiety, depression and unhealthy substance use. These include the usual developmental changes resulting in familial conflicts. They also include problems accelerated by technology, such as access to social media and the intense peer comparisons and hostilities caused by it. Dr Smolar will discuss possible approaches for parents to help their children deal with these kinds of difficulties.
Dr. Smolar is a psychiatrist in private practice in Wynnewood Pa. He treats adolescents and adults using primarily psychodynamic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis but also includes some medication management.
November 23 (after choir bake sale): Dr Ann Eichen, The Developmental Arc of Marriage
Dr. Eichen will discuss how marriage and long-term romantic relationships demonstrate unique stages of development that are guided by the tasks intrinsic to the human life cycle.
Ann Eichen has been practicing as a clinical psychologist for over 30 years. She received her Ph.D. from the Derner Institute of Psychology of Adelphi University and completed her specialized training in adult psychoanalysis in 2011. She has a a private practice in Wynnewood and Villanova PA where she works with adults individually and as couples. In 2025, she published her first book, edited with Salman Akhtar and Andrew Smolar, entitled, Marriage and Its Discontents. She has also taught adult development across the life span, and female psychology at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia
January – February 2026: Seniors and Caregivers
January 11: Linda Sterthous
Options in Senior Care and Residential Living
Many seniors and their caregivers find the available array of options in senior living and senior care confusing and disorganized. Linda will try to make sense of what is available and will touch on costs, insurance coverage, and choosing a place appropriate for the individual. She will discuss 55+ communities, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (often called Life Plan communities), Life Care at Home, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, post-acute rehabilitation, and acute rehabilitation. This session is intended to help seniors or their family members understand each type of setting, the different terms used for these settings, and the types of care and services offered in each.
January 25: Lane Brown, PhD
Organizing Care at Home
When care in the home is the best option, arranging and managing such care can be daunting. This session will provide an overview of medical and non-medical home care options, payment and reimbursement, and methods for identifying appropriate caregivers. Regarding home care paid privately out-of-pocket, Lane will discuss pros & cons of using an agency vs. arranging privately for home care staff. She will discuss types of care that may be partially funded by insurance, including non-medical homecare sometimes called “companion care”, which may encompass meal preparation, light housekeeping, laundry, and/or assistance with dressing and toileting. Medical homecare that includes nursing care or therapy in the home may also be partially covered by insurance, including Medicare part B. The presentation will also touch on care management companies and providers with expertise in identifying assisted living communities, such as “A Place for Mom”.
February 8: Lane Brown, PhD
Managing Challenges at Home
When caring for a loved one at home, challenges may arise that are difficult to manage. These can include incontinence, difficult behaviors such as anger, refusing care, perseveration, and fluctuations in mood. Lane will offer tips and ideas for decreasing the intensity of labor-intensive tasks, including methods for avoiding and managing incontinence; understanding, reducing and managing distressing behaviors; and identifying resources for self-care.
February 22: Susan Christie, PT, ATP
Supporting Mobility
As loved ones experience age or disease-related disabilities, one of the most important aspects of home care is safety in mobility and movement. This includes walking, getting in/out of bed or chair, and transferring on and off a toilet or commode. When family members offer this type of assistance, it is important to consider the safety of the caregiver as well as the person receiving care in order to prevent injuries. Susan will offer ideas for improving safety in home mobility. She will discuss equipment and techniques for safe transfers and physical assistance.
March – April 2026: Wellbeing
Each of these sessions is independent; attending all three may be beneficial, but it is not required to participate in them sequentially.
March 8: Darla Spence Coffey
Defining Wellness and the “Gift of Imperfection”
Attending to one’s own well-being is essential to do the work of our lives – whether we are employed, engaged in caring for others, and/or volunteering our time, talent and treasure. How do we define well-being? What exactly is “work-life balance”? Our striving for perfection can complicate our ability to take care of ourselves while taking care of others. We will watch a video of Brene Brown discuss the “gifts of imperfection” and discuss how we might implement such an approach in order to be kinder and more forgiving of ourselves – thus eliminating impediments to maximizing our well-being.
March 22: (Presenter TBD)
Emotional Well-being: the Role of Grief and Shame
Emotional well-being is critical to overall well-being. However, embracing all of our emotions can be challenging – especially those that bring pain. Two of those emotions will be discussed today: grief and shame. Loss is inevitable, and allowing ourselves the time and space to fully grieve those losses is essential – for those that are publicly acknowledged as well as those that are every-bit-as-real but not necessarily “public.” Additionally, shame works in the shadows – and can drain our energy and distort our relationships. Giving ourselves permission to grieve in ways that make sense to us and eliminating shame-based attitudes and behaviors is necessary for boosting our sense of well-being.
April 26: Group participation
Tips and Strategies to promote Wellness
We have all developed ways to take care of ourselves. Let’s use this final session to share with each other tips and strategies that we have learned that help us maintain our balance. Will include a “live” presentation of a strategy that works (Mindfulness – Mark Coffey).