Sessions

Session I

Unequal Impacts: Power, Privilege and Mental Health
Speaker: Amy Johnston

Mental health at work has become a flashpoint over the past year. Between remote working, integrating work and home life, the uncertainty of our world and still meeting the needs of clients, it can feel truly paralyzing. We have all experienced the collective trauma of a global pandemic, a migrant crisis and an eruption of violence against BIPOC and AAPI. However, these traumas do not impact us all equally. While 1:5 people will experience a mental health challenge at any given time, 5:5 people HAVE MENTAL HEALTH, and it’s time to pay attention to this aspect of wellbeing. Poor mental health has become its own pandemic. We know that stress, burnout and wellbeing at work have always been topics that need attention, but the past year has shone a spotlight on how we are all struggling in very different ways. The ability to feel safe bringing our whole selves to the workplace is increasingly recognized as essential for performance, wellbeing, job satisfaction and productivity, while at the same time, some groups continue to feel unsafe or unwelcome.

Session II

Well-meaning, Well-doing and Well-being Panel Discussion
Speaker: Dr. Geraldine Palmer, Ernestina Perez

This Panel Discussion will explore many aspects of a person's lived experience through the lens of cultural sensitivity as it relates to providing effective support and healing to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), Latinx and (Asian Pacific American) APAC individuals, families, and communities. This conversation focuses on understanding the challenges these underrepresented communities face around mental health and how destigmatizing common cultural myths about mental health can help make a difference. As individuals on the learning continuum, we can change the collective consciousness of such stigmatization through self- discovery - asking ourselves those difficult questions relating to how we personally view shame and stigma in the context of mental health. Culture has also shaped a lot of our behavior surrounding this topic. Much of the corrective work needed to unlearn many of these behaviors directly correlates to how we can effectively seek out community, conversation and resources that are designed to address these deeply rooted and deep seated traumas, biases often nestled in our innermost core of our being. Through the power of conversation and dialogue, we seek to take a closer look at how we can move forward and normalize healthy conversation that can restore and heal our broken and under-represented communities in the long-term.

Session III

Suicide Prevention, Social Reform and Mental Health
Speaker: Christopher LeMark

In this compelling one on one interview, Christopher explores the many aspects of his lived experiences through the lens of a young man and the nuggets of wisdom that he has garnered over the years on his journey. Chris will focus on sharing an understanding of the challenges he faced as a black man in Chicago and how this shaped his destiny. Also, amplifying the humanization of therapy and how it can free us from unresolved trauma, reveal deep childhood wounds and cycles of doubt, fear, and anxiety. You will be inspired to “Move” into clarity, peace and healing and enabled with tools and resources that will motivate you to reset, rise and move!