Patient Education

Good Afternoon. Welcome to the second of an on-going series of live chats with various experts on lupus. This chat is hosted by the Lupus Foundation of America, the nation’s leading nonprofit voluntary health organization dedicated to finding the causes and cure for lupus.

We are very pleased to have as our guest today Dr. Robert Phillips. Dr. Phillips likely is well known among people with lupus. He is founder and director of the Center for Coping, located on Long Island, New York. Dr. Phillips is a licensed psychologist who has been in private practice since 1975 and who has, throughout his career, published and spoken widely on coping with physical ailments and other psychological topics. Dr. Phillips, the published author of more than 30 books, has presented over four hundred papers and talks at seminars, conventions, and meetings throughout the United States and internationally. He has served on the Board of Directors of the national Lupus Foundation of America, as well as the Patient Education Committee and the Lupus Now Editorial Board. Dr. Phillips also serves on medical advisory boards of, and is the psychologist for, a number of other major local and national organizations.

Please understand that Dr. Phillips is a psychologist and focuses his practice on coping with chronic diseases. Questions concerning specific medication regimens are best asked of your physician.

Many of Dr. Phillip’s books and other publications are offered for sale through the LFA website store. Periodically you will see banner advertisements for his books above the chat window. You can purchase these books by downloading the order form and faxing or mailing your payment information.

Before we begin, let me explain a little about the way our chat will be conducted. This is a moderated chat, which means that I will ask Dr. Phillips questions that have been submitted you and other members of the audience. You can submit a question either by sending your question by email to question@lupus.org or by entering it into the light green chat bar at the bottom of the chat window.

Likely there will not be enough time to get to every question that is submitted. I will attempt use as many as possible during the hour-long chat. Whenever possible, I will group similar questions together. If I am not able to use your question today, please accept my apology.

Without further delay, I would now like to welcome Dr. Phillips to our chat today. Good Afternoon Dr. Phillips.

Dr. Phillips
Hello everyone!