In fall of 1995, shortly after graduating from college, the son of retired Dominican Hospital cardiologist Anthony Nadherny, MD, and Linda Calciano, PhD, Jon Nadherny/Calciano committed suicide. He was only 23 years old.
“Our family was devastated,” says Linda, who also serves as a board member of the Dominican Hospital Foundation. “Myself, I wanted to fall apart, but I knew I had to find some way for us to focus and turn that emotional energy into a positive journey for the family, but I didn’t know what that journey was at the time.”
Linda and her husband met with Bob Semas, former executive director Dominican Hospital Foundation, to find a way to commemorate her son and prevent other similar tragedies from occurring in the future. Together, they created the Jon E. Nadherny/Calciano Memorial Youth Symposium, which provides ongoing education to medical professionals, students, and the community about mental health and relevant issues facing our youth.
To involve more young people, Linda and the Symposium Advisory Board set up a scholarship program, allowing interested high school and college students to attend.
The 20th annual symposium took place March 2 at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Cocoanut Grove Grand Ballroom. It brought presenters from the UC Berkeley Greater Good Science Center, Dr. Dacher Keltner and Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas. The presentations focused on “Enhancing Mental Health: Prosocial Strategies for Addressing Trauma and Strengthening Resilience.”
Dr. Dacher Keltner is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Berkeley, Director of the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab, and serves as the Faculty Director of the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center. His research focuses on the biological and evolutionary origins of compassion, awe, love, and beauty, as well as power, social class, and inequality. Dr. Emiliana Simon-Thomas is the Science Director at the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, where she oversees its research fellowship program, supports key scientific initiatives like Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude, and co-instructs the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) GG101x: The Science of Happiness.
“Over the past twenty years, the symposium has had such an incredible positive effect on my family and the community,” Linda says. “And I hope it continues to grow, because the ultimate goal, for myself and my family, is to prevent suicide. An endowment helps to support the program, funded by numerous community members over the years. Their donations are very much appreciated.”
To learn more about the foundation, visit http://calcianoyouthsymposium.org.