Dr. Annie Brewster, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, will discuss her work using storytelling as a therapeutic tool. As the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Health Story Collaborative, her work focuses on creating forums for storytelling to help individuals and communities navigate illness, trauma, and loss. The Collaborative was born of her personal experience as both a practicing doctor with a strong desire to make the healthcare system better and as a patient, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001.
She will discuss the philosophy that supports the use of storytelling to promote health and will review the social science and emerging neurobiological research on narratives’ health benefits. She will also suggest practical ways to apply the knowledge to promote wellbeing.
Dr. Brewster is co-author of “The Healing Power of Storytelling: Using Personal Narrative to Navigate Illness, Trauma, and Loss” (Penguin Random House, 2022).
Moderator: Cyndee McGuire
