CHNA 18 Spring Workshops - See below for complete information on 5/11 - and you may register for the May and the June Spring Workshop with one click below.

Becoming a Mental Health Ally: Reducing Stigma, Breaking Barriers, and Improving Access to Care.

Be a mental health ally! Help yourself and others stop the stigma and start recovery.

This training is designed for public health and human services organizations, including but not limited to: Social Workers, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Nurses (including School Nurses), other medical professionals, and elderly services providers.

2 CE Units available.

RAFFLE! WIN $250 FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION TO USE FOR PROGRAMMING AND PROJECTS. MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN

Learning Objectives:

1) Improve your work with families, teens, elderly, non-english speaking and immigrant communities through learning about and how to avoid the top non-compliance methods of mental health treatment across these various groups.

2) Discover ways to reduce stigma around mental health issues to help increase compliance and follow through with treatment recommendations.

3) Leave with a tool kit of additional resources to use to help promote mental health awareness and parity, as well as useful resources for making appropriate referrals to services for clients.

Keynote Speaker: Trenni Kusnierek, Sports anchor for Comcast Sportsnet New England.

After years of silent suffering, hiding her anxiety and depression from the public in a very public field, sports reporter Trenni Kusnierek decided it was time to share her story. She has made it a personal goal to help reduce the stigma of mental illness and hopes that by going public with her battle with depression, she can encourage people afraid to seek help that they are not alone and that help is possible.

Panelists:

Dr. Susan Swick, Chief, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Newton Wellesley Hospital
Kerrie Cusack, LCSW, Social Worker at the Needham Council on Aging
Darcy Rubino, Walker Director of Family Connections
Refugee Trauma and Resilience Center Instructor, Harvard Medical School Department of Psychiatry Boston Children's Hospital, Specialist in Mental Health.

Hands On Activities

Introduction to Mindfulness & Meditation

Participants will be introduced to the basic concepts of meditation and mindfulness, and practice some easy techniques to take home.

Instructor: Gretchen van Dyck Daggett, M.A., is a Kripalu-certified yoga and mind-body instructor with over 20 years’ experience teaching gentle yoga and meditation/mindfulness to people of all ages, experience, and physical limitations.

The Calming Art of Mandalas

Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning circle, and mandalas are designs within a circle. This exercise will explore the magic of mandalas as a means of centering and self-expression, through coloring mandala designs with colored pencils. No artistic ability required!

Instructor: Carolyn Kingston, M.A. is a professional singer and voice teacher who has been fascinated by mandalas in both their artistic and musical forms for many years.