View the World Mental Health Day Speaker Event from October 2022
OUR VIRTUAL SPEAKER EVENT ON OCTOBER 12
Howard Center will be connecting to the global world mental health movement and hosting its third annual community-wide recognition of World Mental Health Day (WMHD). WMHD is on October 10 and is an opportunity for community education and engagement to reduce stigma, raise awareness, and to connect to the global movement to ensure our communities have access to mental health supports when they are needed.
Please take a look at our one-page columns and resources that address areas of concern for most individuals and families: Mental Health & Youth Ι Racism & Mental Health Ι Anxiety Ι Depression Ι Social Connection
WMHD 2022 Featured Speakers
When the Going Gets Tough; Recognizing and Recovering from Burnout
Dr. Alice Chen
Alice T. Chen, MD is a board-certified internal medicine physician and a national leader in physician advocacy, community organizing, and public health. She received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and went on to attend medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College. She completed her residency in internal medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Chen became an internal medicine hospitalist and faculty member first at UCLA and then at George Washington University in Washington, DC, training hundreds of residents and medical students as they cared for thousands of patients.
In 2009, she helped found and ultimately became the Executive Director of Doctors for America, a grassroots organization of thousands of physicians and medical students who advocate for policies to improve the lives of their patients. In 2021, Dr. Chen became Senior Advisor to Made to Save, providing strategic and public health leadership to a national COVID-19 vaccine public outreach and equity campaign.
She has spoken and written extensively on topics including health care reform, physician advocacy, climate change, our national COVID-19 response, and the importance of social connection.
Dr. Chen currently serves on boards and advisory groups for several organizations focused on climate change, health equity, and grassroots organizing. She lives with her husband, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and their two children in Washington DC.
Description
Burnout within the healthcare workforce and the wider society was all too common even before the arrival of COVID-19. With the pandemic came enormous changes in workplaces across the economy including our schools, hospitals, social service agencies, offices, retail stores, and everywhere else people come together to get things done. Increased workloads, lack of work-life balance, concerns about getting sick, economic stress, and general uncertainty all contributed to even more widespread burnout. Recent surveys show that more than half of American workers report symptoms of burnout.
Dr. Chen will draw on her years of experience and expertise to discuss the causes of burnout, particularly those present in healthcare and social services settings; symptoms to be most aware of, including physical and mental symptoms; and strategies for addressing burnout in all facets of life, including the workplace.
Storytelling Towards My Healing & Transformation
Ferene Paris Meyer
Ferene Paris Meyer, storyteller and founder of All Heart Inspirations, creates heart-centered spaces through workshops, community engagements, culinary cuisine, and more! Ferene is living out loud, sharing her lived experiences as a Black Haitian womxn, in collaboration with the Burlington School District, Flynn Theater, Vermont Public and more. She aspires to make a collective difference within her local Vermont community and beyond one story at a time. We all have stories worthy of telling… So what’s yours?!
As Ferene continues to support, affirm, and engage our community in meaningful ways, visit her website and Instagram to learn more about her storytelling organization, All Heart Inspirations.
Description
Through the art of storytelling, Ferene Paris Meyer empowers those navigating mental health to be their authentic selves. Storytelling has been transformational in Ferene’s healing with anxiety and depression. This session will infuse heartfelt shares as a catalyst for awakening a fire within us to heal and transform. We all have stories worthy of telling. So what’s yours?!
Why Storytelling?
- Encourages one to practice vulnerability to meaningfully connect with self and others
- Invitation to center open hearts, authenticity, finding your voice, living with purpose, and owning your power to heal + transform
- Reimagines what mental conversations, resources, environments, and lived experiences could be by being our most authentic, compassionate selves.
- It’s a powerful way to engage various people- reflecting on our salient identities, lived experiences, and the communities we are part of.
- True storytelling, anchored in heartfelt shares, brings out emotion to sustain a fire within us to heal and transform.
Event Facilitator
Dr. Jude Smith Rachele is the CEO and co-founder of Abundant Sun, an international consulting firm. She is a social entrepreneur, academic, artist, and a public speaker. Originally from the USA, Jude has for decades lived and worked internationally between the UK, Europe, and the Americas. She is a highly experienced, charismatic, dynamic, and insightful leader.
Jude started her career as a diversity and inclusion trainer, but has since dedicated herself to cultural transformation driven specifically by data analytics, business ethics, leadership and governance. She has designed numerous programs to help professionals display inclusive behaviors, to understand and respond respectfully to various cultural traditions, behaviors and values, and most importantly to improve their ethical decision-making processes. Jude holds a BA in Psychology and a PhD in Business. She is the author of many articles, and of her own recent book “Dismantling Diversity Management: Introducing an Ethical Performance Improvement Campaign.” Jude has been a regular commentator on Vermont Public Radio delivering several powerful and insightful commentaries on contemporary issues. She has also been leading Howard Center’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives since 2015. Jude will serve as our facilitator.
Please request your CEU certificate following the event by email to: rvail@howardcenter.org
If you require special accommodations, please contact Brigett Weinstein at 802-488-6913 or bweinstein@howardcenter.org by October 1, 2022. American Sign Language interpretation will be offered.
Shaw’s GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Bag Program
For every $3.00 reusable GIVE BACK WHERE IT COUNTS Bag purchased in October at Shaw’s on 573 Shelburne Road in Burlington, Howard Center receives $1.00 to support our many programs addressing critical mental health, substance use, and developmental disability needs in the community. In the spirit of World Mental Health Day, please consider purchasing a bag or donating to Howard Center today.
Support Howard Center’s World Mental Health Day
If you would like to support our mental health and other programs, please visit our donate page. Thank you to our 2022 sponsors: our anonymous Matching Fund donors, North Country Credit Union, PCC (Physician’s Computer Company), Community Bank N.A., Hickok & Boardman Insurance Group, Mascoma Bank, UVM Medical Center, Union Mutual, Ben & Jerry’s, New England Federal Credit Union, and SymQuest.
If you’d like to join us in promoting mental health through your online and social media networks, you’ve come to the right place! Head to our Media Kit to find sample messages, logos, handles & hashtags, and more.
Resources and Information