Dr. Bruce Rybarczyk is Professor of Psychology in the Clinical Psychology Program at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also received his PhD. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and a Fellow in Division 22 of the American Psychological Association, both in Rehabilitation Psychology. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
"My research focus throughout my career has been on understanding and facilitating psychological adaptation to illness and disability. This work has covered several areas: developing a narrative intervention (the Life Narrative Interview) to help hospitalized patients cope with their inpatient experience; examining psychological adjustment to amputation, heart transplant and stroke; designing and testing coping enhancement and wellness interventions for older medical patients; testing cognitive-behavioral treatments for medical patients with chronic insomnia; and, most recently, testing brief interventions that can be administered by psychologists in the primary care setting. I continue to be interested in developing new, innovative and low cost ways to enhance coping and resilience in the face of medical challenges."
Dr. Albert Bellg is a writer and a retired clinical health psychologist. He received his doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York, and is a former President of the Wisconsin Psychological Association. He did clinical work and NIH-funded research with heart patients at the Rush Heart Institute in Chicago and the Appleton Heart Institute in Wisconsin.
"As a writer, I've always been interested in storytelling. Being able to combine my interest in narrative with my clinical work with medical patients was a very rewarding part of my work. I also helped physicians and other medical professionals develop mindful and other self-care practices to deal with the challenges of their work. At present, I facilitate retreats through Parker Palmer's organization, the Center for Courage and Renewal, to help professionals and others reconnect with what makes their work and their lives meaningful. My writing currently focuses on the difficulties and rewards of following what is most important to you in making major life decisions, and on developing practices to facilitate that process."