More than 150 clinicians, educators, and staff gathered for Advocate Health’s 12th Annual Narrative Medicine Conference, exploring how story meets care.
Advocate Health marked another narrative milestone this fall with its 12th Annual Narrative Medicine Conference — “Rehumanizing the Clinical Encounter Through Narrative Practice: Where Story Meets Care” — held September 18, 2026, at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois (with a virtual option extending the reach even further). Total attendance -- more than 150 clinicians, educators, and staff -- speaks to how deeply narrative medicine has taken root in Advocate Health’s culture over more than a decade.
Congratulations to Narrative Mindworks’ institutional members, Advocate Health, and to David G. Thoele, MD, Pediatric Cardiology and Marjorie Getz, PhD, Psychoeducational diagnostician at Advocate Medical Group, co-founders of Advocate Health’s Narrative Medicine organization, along with Lynne Schwartz, program director and the event planning team, for creating this inspiring day.
Where Story Meets Care
The conference opened with a welcome from Dr. Mark Butterly, Chief Medical Officer of Advocate Children’s Hospital, and an opening meditation led by Stephen Lee, setting an intentional, reflective tone that carried through the entire program. The keynote, “Life Stories: Narratives of Redemption & Acceptance,” was delivered by Dan McAdams, PhD, the Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University and one of the leading voices in narrative psychology — a fitting anchor for a day built entirely around the idea that story belongs at the center of how care is given and received.
From there, the program moved through a full slate of “Telling Our Stories” sessions and presentations, including Patricia Padgurskis on digital storytelling and narrative identity, Marjorie Getz and Angela Smilovici presenting the Narrative Education Awards, and a standout afternoon session from Wake Forest University’s Aimee Mepham and Dr. Kristen Zeller on unlocking resident physicians’ identities as storytellers. The day closed with a panel — “Beyond the Chart: The Impact of Identity and Story in Healthcare” — moderated by Dr. McAdams himself, before a closing meditation brought the conference full circle.
Every Story Matters
Attendee Geneen Ransaw, M. Ed. SPHR, Strategic Business Leader & Human Resources Executive for Advocate Health, said: “What resonates most with me about this work is the reminder that everyone has a story, and every story matters. When we create space to listen and learn from one another’s experiences, we strengthen our ability to support each other, whether as providers and patients, leaders and teammates, or parents and children.”
Twelve years running, this conference is a genuine testament to Advocate Health’s commitment to narrative practice — not as a one-day event, but as an ongoing investment in how their people care for each other and for the patients they serve. Great job, Advocate Health. Here’s to conference number thirteen!
“When we create space to listen and learn from one another’s experiences, we strengthen our ability to support each other”
— Geneen Ransaw
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