A Commitment to Transforming Lives Through Connection
Board member Dr. Richard Schwartz is a practicing psychiatrist and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His research and teaching have given him great insight into the importance of human relationships and connection, and he and his wife, Jacqueline, have written three books on the subject, including The Lonely American: Drifting Apart in the Twenty-First Century.
Loneliness, social isolation, and their opposite – lasting relationships – have been a focus of Richard’s writing and teaching for years, and he discovered FriendshipWorks while researching organizations and programs he could recommend to clinicians treating patients who felt lonely. Impressed with the program, he decided he wanted to contribute personally to FriendshipWorks.
Richard connected with the former FriendshipWorks Executive Director Janet Seckel-Cerrotti, and then the two participated on a speaker panel discussing the topic of loneliness. He became a FriendshipWorks Board member in 2022. Richard has dedicated much of his life to calling attention to the importance of social connection and its impact on human health and happiness and he sees FriendshipWorks as a model for other programs to successfully combat social isolation across the country.
Richard also has a personal connection to the mission and says, “I have seen the transforming effects of new connections in the life of my mother (now 101) after a period of loneliness and isolation brought on by my father’s death, the loss of old friends, and her own physical limitations.” As a member of the Board Richard hopes to contribute to FriendshipWorks’ expansion and shares his enthusiasm for the organization with friends, family, and other potential donors.
In addition to being a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Board member at FriendshipWorks, Richard is a Senior Consultant in Residency Training in the Massachusetts General Hospital-McLean Hospital Combined Residency Program. He is also on the faculties of the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute and Society and the Psychoanalytic Family and Couples Institute of New England. In his spare time, he likes to be around his family and friends, play music, and swim.
