Do you wonder about the connection between mindfulness and mental health? Do you want to learn how to practice mindfulness to support your mental and/or physical health? Come and learn about these questions with two individuals who will share information and provide experiential lessons as well.
Come hear a panel of peers share their approaches to juggling both paid and unpaid work with their mental health. The panel will include Krista Armstrong-Moon, Andrew Fishman, Mary Johnston, Martin Petracchi, and Alisa Stepanian; and will be moderated by Cynthia Piltch.
Howard is the co-founder and on the leadership team of the Metro Boston and Southeast Recovery Learning Communities, is a Certified Peer Specialist, and a Certified Psychosocial Rehabilitation Practitioner. He will speak about his experiences with mental health challenges, his involvement with numerous organizations, boards and committees; and how these experiences intersect and overlap with each other.
Adults with pediatric onset (childhood/adolescent onset) have a distinct course, characteristics and neurobiology from adults with later onset (older adolescent/adult onset). Dr. Wozniak will discuss her research and treatment of individuals with bipolar disorder.
John Winkelman, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Chief of the Sleep Disorders Clinical Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Previously, he was the Sleep Director at McLean Hospital and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Two of his specialty areas are restless leg syndrome and insomnia.
Chuck Weinstein, MA, LMHC, CPRP, member of the leadership team of DBSA Boston since 1995 including five years as President, will be sharing about his recovery journey that includes his involvement with various mental health organizations that he worked for as part of his professional career in social work, psychiatric rehabilitation, and counseling, as well as a certified peer specialist (CPS).
John Winkelman, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Chief of the Sleep Disorders Clinical Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Previously, he was the Sleep Director at McLean Hospital and at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Two of his specialty areas are restless leg syndrome and insomnia.
Ken Duckworth will speak about his journey in the field of mental health and how being a family member of someone with lived mental health issues informed his career; how he came to write his recent mental health book, and what he hopes readers will take away from it, including the importance of peer support (i.e., lived experience expertise). He will also discuss his work at NAMI and where mental health is today compared to when he started his career.
With group therapy, you get the best of both worlds: the ear of a trained therapist, and the expertise and compassion of your peers. Members learn about themselves by understanding one another through collective learning. Come join Hadassah Margolis for an interactive discussion on the importance of group therapy in the recovery process, and how, in particular, groups on the intersection of spirituality and mental health can lead to transformative experiences.
Lisa McLaughlin Charland, CPS, will provide us with a description of WRAP, share how it’s been helpful to her, and how it can support your recovery journey. Lisa will begin by sharing her personal experience with using a WRAP and what she’s learned while facilitating several WRAP groups at McLean Hospital. She will also speak about her background as a certified peer specialist at McLean, where she facilitates inpatient and outpatient groups and provides individual support for people in McLean’s programs. She will also touch on her latest writing project, a book of nonfiction short stories focused on mental health, grief, hope, humor, and recovery.
Ken Duckworth will be part of a panel discussion including individuals who he interviewed for the NAMI book “You Are Not Alone.” This event is the second in a two-part series with Ken. The first part was in January and the video of this is on the DBSA Boston website. Come and hear first-hand the mental health journeys of a sample group of individuals from the book.
Come learn all about the range of programs, services, and supports that DBSA National provides, as well as its relationships with chapters across the country. Michael Pollock, CEO, will speak broadly about the organization and go into more detail about the various ways it provides hope, help, support, and education. Douglas Hulst, Peer Workforce Development Senior Program Manager, will describe what peer specialists are, what the training entails, valuable information and resources pertaining to Massachusetts, etc. This promises to be a very informative, interesting event. We look forward to seeing you there.