With health, lifestyle, and wellness issues of growing concern among veterinarians, neuropsychiatrist and New York Times bestselling author Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., will share skills that equine practitioners can use to create more presence in their professional and personal lives when he delivers the keynote address at the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ 61^st Annual Convention in Las Vegas, Nev. 

Dr. Siegel’s presentation, “The Art and Science of Resiliency (in Our Lives)” will explore the neuroplasticity of the brain in relation to the teachable skill of being present, of being receptive to and aware of what is happening as it is happening, which leads to improvements in mental well-being, relationship skills and overall medical health. The keynote address is sponsored by Merck Animal Health.

Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine; founding co-director of UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center; founding co-investigator at the UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development; and executive director of the Mindsight Institute, an educational center devoted to promoting insight, compassion and empathy in individuals, families, institutions and communities.

He has published extensively for the professional audience and serves as founding editor for the Norton Professional Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology, which includes over three dozen textbooks. Dr. Siegel is an internationally acclaimed author whose books include Mindsight; Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology; The Developing Mind, Second Edition; The Mindful Therapist; The Mindful Brain; Parenting from the Inside Out (with Mary Hatzell, M.Ed.); and the three New York Times bestsellers: Brainstorm, The Whole-Brain Child (with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.) and No-Drama Discipline (with Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.). He has been invited to lecture for Pope John Paul II, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Google University and TEDx, among others.

The 61st Annual Convention will be held Dec. 5-9 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. The annual convention is the world’s largest continuing education event dedicated to equine veterinary practice and is attended by thousands of equine veterinarians, veterinary students, technicians and exhibitors. For more information about the annual convention, visit www.aaep.org/info/annual-convention.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, Ky., was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its over 9,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry. 

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