We are pleased to announce our 14th Annual Community Mental Health Conference for 2015. This year’s conference theme is:
“Understanding and Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness.”
The conference will be held on Sunday, June 7, 2015 from 9:30 am – 3:15 pm
at Beth Emet The Free Synagogue in Evanston Illinois.
U.S. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL- 9) will open the conference. She will be joined on the dais by Dr. Patrick Corrigan, a well-published and researched expert on stigma and mental illness. Dr. Corrigan is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is a licensed clinical psychologist who has developed and provided services for people with serious mental illnesses and their families for more than 30 years. Dr. Corrigan writes, “Stigma is not just erasing the prejudice of discrimination of mental illness; it is promoting attitudes and behavior that reflect recovery and self- determination.”
Our opening plenary will also include a panel of three “persons in recovery” who will relate their experiences, and discuss how they speak out to help others:
- Reverend Dr. Cheryl Magrini, National Chair, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. She embraces resiliency while living with bipolar disorder;
- Chris Prochut, former Bolingbrook Police Commissioner and partner of Drew Peterson. He is an advocate and a law enforcement and first responder suicide prevention trainer.
- Greg Baugues, software developer with ADHD and bipolar disorder. He speaks regularly to de-stigmatize mental illness in the tech community.
The moderator for this conference will be Michael Horowitz, Ph.D., President of TCS Education System.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call the NRCI office at 312.410.8967.
