Rachel Goldsmith Turow, Ph.D., is a psychotherapist, research scientist, mindfulness and compassion teacher, and an adjunct faculty member at Seattle University and at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Turow’s work explores the connections among attention, self-criticism, stressful life experiences, and mental health. She is the author of The Self-Talk Workout: Six Science-Backed Strategies to Dissolve Self-Criticism and Transform the Voice in Your Head (Shambhala), and Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD: Practices for Recovery and Resilience (Norton) along with over 30 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters. Over the years, Dr. Turow noted that many of the strategies that help trauma survivors can also build emotional resilience more generally. In particular, Dr. Turow observed (and later researched) that reducing self-criticism improved people's anxiety, traumatic stress, and depression. After several decades of observing the benefits of mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral practices, both for herself and among her patients and students, Dr. Turow now teaches specific mental techniques that decrease self-criticism and cultivate self-encouragement.
Dr. Turow teaches three "science and practice" Psychology courses at Seattle University: Mindfulness Skills, Developing Compassion, and Building Resilience. In each course, students practice new mental skills and other behaviors while also learning about scientific research studies related to each technique. In collaboration with her colleagues at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Turow also provides training in sensitive practice to healthcare workers serving cancer patients who are also survivors of sexual violence. She has led mindfulness, compassion, and resilience workshops nationally for audiences ranging from university and high school educators to active military personnel.
