“Our kids are in absolute mental health crisis, and it’s getting worse,” says clinical psychologist Jeffrey Hansen.
With decades of experience in trauma, addiction and adolescent health, Hansen is one of two speakers for the second annual Shed Some Light medical conference in Williamsport.
Retired palliative care and hospice specialist Dr. Alexander Nesbitt will also speak at the one-night event. It is scheduled from 7-9:30 p.m., on April 3 at Williamsport’s Trade and Transit Center, 144 West Third St.
Nesbitt will begin the evening with “Hippocratic Medicine: Past, Present and Future,” discussing the famed Hippocratic Oath that has been a cornerstone of Western medicine for nearly 2500 years.
The oath’s essence, says Nesbitt, is “that the relationship between the healer and the patient is a covenant, not just a contract.
“This ancient oath and the ideas in it have been central in medicine for millennia,” Nesbitt adds. “But in the past 100 years, there has been increasing challenge or rejection of these ideas, and I will touch on some of the potential problems associated with this.”
While Nesbitt spent most of his career as a physician and hospice specialist in the Williamsport area, Hansen is currently based in Prescott, AZ, where he heads up Holdfast and NeuroFaith, both of which work to heal trauma and addiction.
“Developmental trauma is a major conduit to depression and addiction,” says Hansen — stressing that current methods of treatment are not working.
Following Nesbitt at the conference, Hansen will speak on “Adolescents in Crisis,” with the subtitle “Time to Rethink, Reimagine and Revive.”
Current treatments for trauma and addiction, says Hansen, “don’t get at the root; they treat end-states rather than early causes. We need to heal the trauma wounds, which lead to a negative perception of self.”
Hansen also stresses the importance of religious faith, which makes “a powerful neuroprotective device; it also promotes healing, protecting against suicide and major depression” — both of which are now major problems for adolescents. And some of this, he adds, is related to social media:
“When you’re not connecting in 3-D, you don’t develop a good autonomic nervous system to deal with threats and find safety.”
Following 2024’s well-attended conference on abortion and gender dysphoria, this year’s event is again coordinated by Russell Gombosi, a local physician who is board-certified in internal medicine, pediatrics and sleep medicine.
“The conference was born out of the liberal bias within organized medicine that limits balanced educational discussions, especially from a conservative perspective,” says Gombosi.
“The Hippocratic Oath used to be pledged in its entirety upon graduation from medical school. It has been altered or omitted for quite a few years now. Adolescent depression is at all-time highs at nearly 60%. I believe that an attendee will come to realize that there is a connection between these two topics.”
The Nesbitt and Hansen presentations will be followed by a panel discussion featuring both speakers, as well as Gombosi.
Shed Some Light is free and open to the public, with donations accepted — to benefit the Expectations Women’s Center in Williamsport.
Refreshments will be provided. The conference is sponsored by J.A.K.S. Realty.
To register, contact Gombosi at rgombosi@openarmsmedpeds.com; or snail-mail to Gombosi at 3155 Lycoming Creek Rd., Williamsport, PA 17701.
